The Zoo
by UnrealFox
Summary: Zootopia is a place where any animal can be anything they want to be, but some animals just want to be criminals. Zootopia is facing a two headed threat that may unravel the city down to it's very core. Can the ZPD's finest make heads or tails of what's happening before nothing is left?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've been waiting for Zootopia for such a long time, and now that it's finally here, I'm happy to begin spinning my own, obviously dark, tale for the world and it's inhabitants. Thanks for taking a peek!

* * *

"Savage..." A medium pitched male voice echoed out into a room of animals. It was the dead of night. Some of the animals were standing freely with their arms behind their backs like they were waiting for something. The other less fortunate animals were tied down with zip ties and gagged with white shop towels, keeping their jaws from clamping down and her words muffled at worst, nullified at best. Each animal present was of different species, gender and height, but the standing animals all wore red hooded jackets with black, tribal designs. The hoods pulled firmly over their heads and faces to hide their stoic expressions. The animals on the floor, however, were wearing business wear, suits, dresses, name tags and expensive ties. They were hostages, trembling, subdued and completely terrorized by what was happening before them. Even if they couldn't explain it.

The hostages were rounded up and thrown about in a small circle, about fifteen hostages in total. Each hostage had their own personal thug standing over them and guarded them with next to no visual cue, since they didn't even look like they could see through their hoods and they had no visible weapons on them. About twelve feet from them was their previous business meeting, or at least the table where it was being held. Coffee, water bottles, calculators, legal pads and name plates all stood within the naked paws of a fox, who was pacing on the table like he was contemplating the universe all at once.

"Savage?!" The fox repeated himself, he was about five-foot two, stamping back and forth across business ledgers, expensive note cards, stationery and pens that were stacked neatly at his feet. These hooded intruders had barged in during a business meeting where the executives were discussing earnings reports, employee satisfaction and goal summaries. But the meeting was cut short and now they were at the mercy of, what was clearly, a dangerous psychopath who stomped down on their proposals while shouting-

"SAVAGE?!" He barked again, "Do they really believe that was _uncultured, uncivilized, against nature_?! "

The hostages on the floor all followed the fox with their eyes as he complained. His twenty, or so, followers watching quietly with their hands still firmly tucked behind their backs, showing no signs of diverting attention or even speaking.

"You animals," The fox continued, "You animals believe that this world is more _civilized_ , more modern?! That we _evolved_?! Can you imagine what our ancestors must be thinking of us right now?! WHY-are we wearing clothes when there is nothing wrong with the predatory stance? Or the grazing form? WHY-are we driving vehicles when we should still be embracing all of our muscle groups?! WHY-are we living inside walls, pumping thousands-no-MILLIONS of dollars of energy to **freeze** one side of this city, and **broil** the other? Is THAT not unnatural? Is that NOT uncivilized? Is that NOT against what nature intended?!"

The hostages continued to tremble while this madman shouted. His own hood was down firmly over his face, only revealing his thin orange muzzle and black lips as he spoke, but he could clearly still see just fine. He demonstrated this by picking up a pen, and gnashing it in his teeth, spitting black ink all over the table and nearby floor.

"This _world_ we live in, is full of false promises. False hopes and shattered dreams. How can any of us hope to achieve anything when we believe we've already reached the top of the mountain?"

A hostage on the floor began to shout, as if they had something to say in protest. A badger woman with large hips and a four dollar suit. She clearly wasn't the most successful executive in the room, and was going to be the first to act against these intruders.

The fox turned to the woman who was trying to pull herself to her feet, but her heavy set nature betrayed her ability to rise without the use of her arms. She instead, slowly rolled in place, balancing on her large chest, then rolling back onto a shoulder and snarling past her cloth gag.

"Ungag her." The fox declared to the hooded follower standing above the hostage. His order was followed instantly and without missing a beat the badger began spewing obscenities at fox on top of the table.

"What the hell is your problem, fox?! Why you screaming at us about what some other animals done did last week?! What's this gotta do with Plastics Multi-Purpose International?!" The badger shouted while still lying on her side, doing her best to keep her own chest out of her mouth as she snarled and screamed.

"Pardon me?!" The fox stepped forward and off the table, landing in the ink he'd previously spilled and began pacing towards the badger.

The hostages all followed the fox with their eyes as he approached the badger and got in her face, slowly pulling his hood away from his face to reveal his pale green eyes. He was thin in appearance. His fur tone was more of a pale orange than a rich orange like most foxes, and his ears were gently speckled with holes like he'd been attacked by moths while pretending to be a wool sweater, which would have been his most distinguishing feature if not for his black eye liner. That everyone could clearly tell was black eye liner and not depression marks under his darkened eyes.

"PMPI is one of the most successful businesses in this god-forsaken city and enables the masses to believe that we are better off without our superior senses, our superior abilities, our superior nature."

"Superior?!" The woman protested, "What's so damn superior about eatin' with your fingers and claws when you can hold a plastic fork, or spoon, or drink from a plastic cup. Have you any idea how much cleaner it is to use a cup or a bowl instead of your bare hands?"  
"Cleaner..." The fox snarled down at the badger. "When did we animals become so weak that we fear germs?"  
"What?! Germs are bad for your health! They cause diseases and sickness!"  
"Germs." The fox snickered, "Are a part of nature, and if we didn't hide from them, we would overcome them."

"Uh... News flash!" The badger shouted again, "The Rattles was a terrible disease that caused muscle spasms, paleness, restlessness, and listlessness. It comes from contaminated sources that have been in contact with decomposing matter, and can even resist most antibiotics and soaps under the right conditions, and can be found in trace amounts in roughly any freely flowing source of ground water. However using a plastic filter on any faucet or hose head can guarantee a 99.99% resistance against catching the disease."

The fox stood up firm and began to wipe his face dry, not enjoying being spat on by a know it all business woman.  
"Interesting rebuttal, should I then tell my children, and my children's children to purchase PMPI filters and drink from PMPI cups and only consume water from PMPI certified water sources? And what of that .01% chance? What if I, my son, or my son's son were to catch this disease? Who is responsible?"

"What kind of question is that?!" The badger woman growled up at the fox.  
"It's a question with an answer. It's my fault obviously, and it's my son's fault, and it's my son's son's fault. We were the ones who drank the contaminated water. We were the ones who purchased into the idea of living and being safe. We were the ones who bought into the dream that this land, this modern civilization is safe enough to ignore all our base instincts and only do what we are told because we are told."

"Water is SAFE to drink!"  
"And what of this senseless modern world?! Is THAT safe!?"  
"Of course it's safe!" The badger surprisingly rose to her feet suddenly. "I don't know who you are, or what these strange friends of your got in store, but arguing about drinking water aint gunna get anything accomplished. Now if you all can get the hell out of my way, I'm callin the police."

"Apprehend her." The fox snapped his fingers, which got the badger grabbed by two hooded intruders immediately.  
"Get your paws offa me!" The badger snarled and turned to bite at one of the hooded figures who merely stood their ground as badger's teeth sank into the jacket of their forearm.  
"You seem to think that all that you do is correct." The fox snorted, now stepping back up to the badger who was furiously tearing into the arm, only finding herself with a mouth full of jacket fibers and lining.

"What the hell-" The badger stopped biting and turned back to the fox. "What are you talking about anyway!? Why are you doing all this?"  
"I am here to see the world return to a state that was less arbitrary, less glossy, more- _savage._ " He explained as he pulled his paws out of his jacket, revealing a syringe rolling with blue liquid.

"Night Howlers?! Oh hell no!" The badger began fighting more and more but still to no avail. The fox, however, spun around and turned to the other hostages on the floor.  
"Wait-" The badger called, "What are you doing?! What do you think you're doing?! Leave those animals alone!"

"Stand them up." The fox commanded, to which all the hostages were quickly seized and brought to their feet, causing panic and whimpering to escape meekly past their gags.

"What are you doing?!" The badger shouted again.  
"Your name." The fox turned to the badger, glaring at her out of one eye, holding the syringe in his out stretched, pale brown paw.

"Bianca Mosley." She answered, entering a slightly panicked state.  
The fox nodded, glad that she wasn't lying, he could clearly see her name on her name tag. But none of these animals were of any real use to him. PMPI wasn't a threat to the world, it was merely a stepping stone that needing to be sunk back down into the murk so that the water could continue to flow unimpeded.

The badger watched in horror as the fox had all the hostages lined up and he slowly began to inject each one of them twice, once through their clothes in any random place, the second was straight to the base of their necks. Pumping a full vial of the blue fluid straight into their bodies and placing the syringe back into his coat, only to produce another and continued the process, whispering something to each of them as he hit animal by animal.

As expected, each of the animals that was injected fell to the ground and began trembling, snarling, growling, writhing around in pain like their bodies had been lit on fire. Even through all the growling and mild roaring, the badger, Miss Bianca, could still make out what the fox was whispering to them.

' _Kill Bianca Mosley'_

The fox snapped his fingers, and the badger was released from the grip of the two hooded figures, holding her in place. She didn't waste any time running away, only to be quickly hunted by her now savage co-workers. They were deers, goats, lions and bears, ripping through the zip ties that held them in place and mauling the gags that kept them quiet.

"How will your evolved technology save you now?" The fox muttered as the wild hostages charged away from him.  
"IF I HAD A GUN I'D SHOW YOU!" The badger still managed to retort as she kicked open the door to the meeting room and ran down the hall, trying to make her way to the elevators.

Behind her, all she could hear was angry growling and bleating as she slammed into the call button with her shoulder, and only then did she remember that she was on the sixtieth floor of a corporation, that elevator was going to take a minute.

"Damn!" She cursed and turned away from the elevator doors to begin running towards the stairs instead. The snarling, that was seemingly right on her heels only a moment ago, was now getting closer and closer. Bianca smashed into the door to the stairwell with her shoulder, which she was now glad was so heavy set, but the door didn't budge.

"Damn damn!" The door was locked, only the elevators were operational after 7pm. She stood up, hearing the elevator door ' _bing'_ and slide open, but right as Bianca motioned to head back, a lion and a brown bear rounded the corner, barreling towards her. She had no choice but to turn and run the other way, towards the only other option available... the window.

The badger exhaled deeply, now feeling, hearing, and processing every step she made while running. Each time her naked foot slapped down on the polished marble tile, she felt the shockwave of all the hard and long hours, all the lonely nights where she was forced to entertain and please herself, all the work she had put into this company, her career, her existence as a woman, now coming to a staggering close. Was this how it was going to end, jumping from a sixtieth story window and splattered on the pavement below? Better this than being eaten alive.

The glass didn't stand a chance.

As reinforced as it claimed it was, it had no choice but to buckle and shatter under the mighty weight of a dire badgers last fleeting chance at survival, or in this case, self-inflicted suicide. The shards of glass echoed in every direction as Bianca Mosley went tumbling down past multiple stories of her own business. She didn't own it. She didn't run it. She barely even made a dent in its operation from day to day, in truth-she was a small part of many who were more there to be blamed if things went wrong than be praised if they all went right. And in these last few moments she finally began to understand what that insane fox had truly meant when he was rattling on.

This world that we live in, this society, this technology, this modern image. It takes all we have, and gives...

.

* * *

.

"Quiet night huh?" Officer Pete Benson yawned while adjusting his badge, to rest firmer on his perfectly sculpted chest and ironed uniform. He was a Grey Wolf, tall, strong, and sworn to protect the peace. He'd been a part of the ZPD for nearly four years, and ever since the Night Howler incident one week ago, this has been the most boring patrol of his career.  
"No it's perfect!" Exclaimed his partner, Jane Swift, a tall cheetah woman of 24, and as green as the day she was sworn in. Her tan fur and dark spots looked in perfect form, and her green eyes were twinkling into Pete's smoked blue orbs with excitement and anticipation. She was expecting to do something exciting like Officer's Judy and Nick always end up doing, but Pete wasn't banking on it.

"What do you think we'll end up chasing after first?!" Jane asked with extreme enthusiasm. "Gun smugglers?! Bank Robbers? Eco Terrorists?!"  
"Haha!" Pete laughed, "We'll first, be heading up Maple Street, then Cotton Avenue, then we'll probably swing by the Park District on our way past Sahara Square. We're on patrol tonight Rookie, nothing exciting _ever_ happens while patrolling."  
"Oh." The cheetahs ears slumped back-then perked up. "Aw, I'm sure something exciting will happen right? Or do you have to be a meter maid in order to get all the excitement around here?"  
"Haha, good one." Pete pulled his cap off and set it on the dash board. "But don't take it too seriously, you'll get your time to shine as an officer of the ZPD soon enough. Be thankful for those slow nights. It's a lot better to know that nothing is going on, than everything, right?"

Jane nodded with a bold smile, "Uh huh! And I bet you've seen soooo much action, right?"  
"Oh boy, have I." Pete smiled, turning his vision back on the road, turning up Maple Street and talking while approaching a red light. "I've seen plenty of action in this town. It's where any animal can be whatever they want to be, and some animals just want to be criminals. So we have to take em down, and bring em in."

Jane was beaming with envy. "That's soooo cool!"  
"Hey, rookie! Sit up straight." Pete smiled at her, "We're on duty after all, no need to get all Clawhauser on me."  
"The big guy at the front desk?" Jane thought out loud, "Is he...?"  
"Oh he's a great guy, works the desk to give the people something friendly to see when they step into the ZPD. I've known him for years." Pete praised on, glancing up at the red light, waiting for it to turn green.

"I couldn't imagine a desk job. When I signed up, this is what I wanted to do more than anything!"  
"What, sit at a red light?" Pete chuckled, tapping his claws against the steering wheel growing impatient.  
"No! Get out on the streets! I love my uniform, I love my job, I want to love patrol too." Jane continued to spill.

"Rookies." Pete exhaled with a smile, "Always so excited to get out until they see their first piece of-" **BLAM!**

A body violently crashed into the hood of the police car, splattering red blood across the wind shield and the surrounding street. "-A-action." Pete barely managed to finish his sentence, as the light then turned green.

.

* * *

.

Nick's nose wrinkled and unfurled multiple times as he caught the scent of something tasty. But he was too tired to get up, he just wanted to lay in bed for another five minutes, or another ten hours, it didn't matter. Sleeping in a bed felt so much better than nuzzling up against old news papers, or bumming a place to crash in the back of a van. The bed was soft, the blankets were warm, and the comforting nuzzle of a soft bunny's cheek against his naked chest made for the perfect place to sleep. Except for the fact that the bunny was missing.

"Carrots?" Nick mumbled out into the small room of Judy's apartment.  
"Nick?" Judy responded, from somewhere in the small room, causing Nick's ears to turn in the direction of her voice. This still didn't stop him from reaching out for her.  
"What cha cookin?" Nick asked, slowly rolling over to cuddle the bunny, forgetting that she was already out of bed.

"Oh nothing." Judy giggled and bounced over to the bed to stoke Nick's chin with her soft paws. "I just figured that since it's our first day off we could celebrate with something _you_ would like."

Nick's nose caught a better whiff of what was cooking, and he nearly shot straight out of bed when his brain told him it was a blue berry pie. "Whoa!" He rose to grab Judy, who was barely dressed in anything more than a tank top and panties, and pulled her into his arms. "It smells heavenly!"

"Well, it's a special occasion isn't it?" Judy smiled into Nick's green eyes, dragging her other soft paw across his muzzle, holding his nose against hers. "It's our first day off together."  
"Carrots, you've been saying that since you saw it on the schedule." Nick smiled back into her purple eyes, nearly becoming hypnotized in her passionate gaze. "The whole department knows."

" _Yeah!_ " A shout came from within the walls, " _Happy Day off heroes!"_ Shouted their gazelle neighbors, who were still only virtually inches away from their private lives.  
"Uh, thanks guys." Nick laughed off the intrusion. "Oh and if you really wanna win a fist fight, you gotta aim for the throat, not just the face."

"Nick?!" Judy protested, "Don't tell them that!"  
"What?" Nick grinned, winking back at his bunny. "It's my civic duty as a protector of the peace to protect the peace, and what better peace than peace of mind?"

Within only a moment after his last statement, there was a loud pop-then the thump of two bodies hitting the floor.

"See." Nick licked his lips, giving Judy a sly glance. "Peace..."  
"Nick." Judy huffed mildly knowing that her neighbors were lying on their floor unconscious from a domestic dispute that was encouraged by her partner, and she really needed to go investigate and see if they needed medical attention. But the gaze Nick was giving her had her hesitating. The vulpine's gaze only became more intense as Judy fell onto her back on their bed and he descended upon her, sinking his fangs gently into her neck fur. A swift gasp escaped her lips as his paws began to course down her neck and chest, creeping further down her stomach to reach the band of her underwear.

"Nick..." Judy gasped, her foot quickly patting the bed with anticipation.  
"Day off, right? We should... _enjoy_ it." Nick suggestively murred, while dragging his nose up her neck until their noses were touching. He smiled down into her eyes with a warm smile planted on his cheeks.

"Y-yes." Judy nervously answered, unsure of what else to even say. Her heart was thumping in her chest, her ears were flat against the bed. Her breathe was coming in shorter and shorter bursts and her clothes were coming off with professional ease against Nick's large, agile paws. Her underwear went soaring onto her desk as Nick finally decided to collapse his frame directly above hers, placing his paws on each side of Judy's head.

"Carrots..." Nick called down to her, while he maneuvered his frame between her spreading thighs. "I've never been this happy before."  
"N-neither have I." Judy admitted, smiling up at him. "I-I was always... thrilled, and wary of foxes."  
"Oh I could tell." He gently chuckled and bent forward slowly, easing his lips towards hers.  
"Nick..." Judy exhaled and arched her back, bringing her lips up closer to his, only for their noses to suddenly bump-and began sniffing rapidly, catching the unmistakable odor of something burning.

"OH SHI-" They shouted in tandem and flipped out of bed like their house was on fire.

Because it was.

.

* * *

"Who's apartment was it?" A zebra asked within the crowd of confused citizens.  
"Somebody on the fifth floor." A hippo answered, "It's too early in the morning for all this though."  
"Hey-at least no one got hurt." A rat called up to the chattering pair.  
"Not with Officer Judy Hopps on the case!" A sheep cried, pointing to the Officer in question.

Standing next to two unconscious gazelle's were Officers Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps, hastily dressed in their uniforms and completely out of breathe.

"Way to go Officers!" A black panther commented.  
"How'd they get here so fast?!" Asked a wolf.  
"They're first responders, they always arrive on the scene first." A random coyote then spoke up.  
"Wow, ZPD is so cool." A hyena spoke up, brushing themselves off.

Judy and Nick were barely able to keep themselves from nervously laughing as everyone commented and commended them on their efforts. They kept exchanging glances but mostly had to inform people that everything was alright and there was no reason to panic.

After a few moments, Zootopia Fire Fighthers exited the apartment building and removed their large masks, revealing tiger and husky collectively.

"Is everything okay?!" "Did anyone get hurt?" "Is anything burned?!" Questions began assaulting the fire fighters.  
"No, no, everything seems to be in order." The tiger answered. "It appears the only real damage was to the exact room of the apartment where the fire had started, but it's not bad enough to condemn the building or anything-so everyone can now go back to their homes."

"We'll pull the fans out of the fifth hallway momentarily." The husky added as people began piling back into the apartment buildings.

"Well, that's a promising start to a morning." Nick grinned, stepping away from the gazelles as ZEMT's approached. "Have at em boys."  
"Thank you sir." The Zootopia Emergency Medical Technician saluted Nick and Judy as he joined the other technician with lifting the gazelles on stretchers and placing them inside the ambulance.

"I hope they're okay." Judy wrinkled her nose, now feeling in the dumps. Setting her apartment on fire, aiding in the injury of two civilians and bombing what was turning out to be an interesting morning wasn't what she had planned for the start of their day off together.

"They'll be fine." Nick told her as he stepped up to the bunny, helping her adjust her vest so she didn't look like she ran out of a burning building.  
"Well-" Judy began to protest.  
"They're gazelles, those horns mean they got a thick skull." The fox merely grinned, covering up his own mild discomfort.  
"But you told them to strike each other in the throats, Nick." Judy frowned.  
"You didn't get a good look at them did you?" Nick's smile seemed to never leave his face. "They each have swollen cheeks. Knock out from blunt trauma-to the face, not the neck, they'll walk it off and be eavesdropping in on our conversations in no less than twenty hours."

"Nick." Judy exhaled and stepped into him, placing her head on his chest. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her. "Our home... it's ruined."  
"No... nothing like that, Carrots." Nick tried to comfort her glancing up at their apartment where the ZFD fire fighters were pulling out the fan. "Well... everything will smell like cooked blue berry pie!"

Judy's ears were still slumped back. Nick's comforting hug and petting were helping, but it was nearly one thirty in the morning and they now had nowhere to stay, they would have to grab a hotel room for the night which, wasn't what she had planned for their day off.

"You know what's strange, Carrots?" Nick began to spin into his usual, redirection angle to make situations better.  
"What?" Judy plainly asked, trying to hide her disappointment still.  
"The people said we were the first responders." He answered quickly, still stroking her ears and back.  
"We are." Judy sniffed invisible tears. "We're ZPD after all."  
"Yeah, but..." Nick paused intentionally. "We're not on duty soooo where _are_ the first responders?"

Judy paused herself, thinking about it too. Where _were_ the ZPD? Was there something that was keeping the night shift from getting here on time? But as she came to that conclusion, the red and blue lights came up the road and parked next to the Fire Truck and Ambulance which was preparing to pull away.

"Speak of the devil." Nick slowly released Judy, and stepped towards the vehicle as they shut their lights off and engaged the parking break. "Guys!" Nick shouted to the officer exiting the vehicle.  
"WILDE!" A rhino came stumbling out of the vehicle. "HOPPS!"

Instantly, both of them came charging to his side. "Officer Duns, what's wrong?! What happened?"  
The Rhino was completely out of breath like he'd somehow ran the entire way here, but his shoulder radio was going crazy with easily six or seven animals shouting on it at once.

"Officers! I'm sorry but Chief Bogo has requested you on site immediately. There's been-"  
"OH GOD-BAR THE DOOR! BAR THE DOOR!" His shoulder screamed, causing the Rhino to turn and shut off the radio.

"What's happening?!" Judy demanded stepping up to the breathless officer, he was clearly so nervous he was out of breath.  
"Officers." The rhino cleared his throat, "There's a situation. We need you on site, immediately."

* * *

 _A/N: Again, thanks for giving this a peek. Don't catch the rattles!_


	2. Chapter 2

1:45 in the morning, and the streets were lit with the red and blue flashing lights of police cruisers blocking off a nasty crime scene. Animals of the ZPD, all clad in their police uniforms, hats and badges, patrolled about while roping off the area, waving flash lights and ensuring that alleys, side roads and any manner of vehicle traffic were to be completely kept out of the surrounding area.

"The air is always cold this time of night." Muttered Officer Pete Benson, as he and his fellow officers waited while EMT's zipped the remains of a badger up in a body bag. He stood with Officer Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, Jane Swift and Detective Luis Strider, a mid height red panda with a clear smoking problem. He was taller than Nick, but shorter than Jane and Pete and was wearing the traditional blue ZPD uniform, but as a detective, he also wore the classic dark brown trench coat that would be expected with such a position.

"How did this happen." Judy asked out loud while examining the damaged vehicle and the roped off crime scene.  
"From what we've gathered, she was thrown from the sixtieth floor of the Plastics Multi-Purpose International building. That's where-we've quarantined off at the moment. There's about six officers up there right now, two are wounded."

"Wounded?" Nick stepped up next to Judy, looking in the direction of Pete and Jane. "So criminals are up there right now? What are we doing out here?"  
"The... criminals." Pete swallowed, centering himself. "They appear to be savage."

"Savage?!" Judy shook her head, "How? I thought we handled the savage problems and have banned Night Howlers from the city?"  
"Some animals just want to be criminals." Pete whispered.

"What?" Nick inquired, looking at the vehicle still. "So wait, savage animals threw a woman out of a window? That high up?"  
The wolf nodded, looking to his partner for a moment who was as silent as the deceased. "That's what it looks like, yes. The victim fell and landed directly on the hood of my cruiser, disabling it immediately."

Nick inhaled sharply, not sure what to make of what he'd heard, but observing the badger shaped impact in the shattered hood of the vehicle was enough proof for him. He placed a paw on Judy's shoulder as she turned to lock eyes with him.

"I think we're needed today."  
Judy's eyes shot to the ground for a moment, down to Nick's feet then up to his eyes again. "You're right. We can have that day off later."

The rabbit's resolve was returned as she spun to the wolf and cheetah, who'd been idly waiting for a call from Chief Bogo.  
"How is the situation in the building?" Judy inquired while formulating a plan.  
Pete didn't say anything for a moment while he locked eyes with Judy. But the determined glares of Nick and Judy told him to check what they were advised _not_ to check on. He rose a paw to the radio that was firmly clipped to his shoulder and slowly raised the volume.

"Graaaaah! Get back! Get back! AAAAUUGH!" The loud angry cry of an officer came ringing through, piercing every ounce of the post-midnight silence that had plagued the crime scene. "Gaaaaaah! Aaaah! AAAAHHH!" The shouting continued until Pete slowly dialed the volume down.

"...what is happening up there." Nick gulped, feeling a cold chill sliding down the back of his spine and unkempt police uniform.  
"We need to go up there." Judy informed the fox, who sharply stood straight up like he was slacking off in class.  
"Up there? Now? Don't we need backup?" Nick nervously protested, having no situational idea what was even happening.

"He's right." Pete confirmed, "We're not sure what the situation even is on that floor. Our officers entered the floor through the elevator and were ambushed near immediately by the savage animals..." Pete paused. "Now the elevator is paused and refuses to operate, it's probably blocked."

"So-the stairs?" Judy offered. "I've ran up more than sixty flights of stairs before."  
"The stairs are blocked by access doors every ten floors that are locked by the building administration." Pete sighed, he hated giving bad news.  
"And?" Nick waved a paw in the air, not sure why the ZPD were hesitating. "We batter the doors down and storm the floors."  
"The doors are electronically locked, and only open themselves during a certain hour and with an administrator's code. The admin would be the CEO who isn't answering his phone, nor the vice president. As a matter of fact the only people who may have access would have been Janitorial staff and they are conveniently..."

Nick shook his head, "Let me guess... not picking up the phone?"  
"Correct." Pete confirmed with a sad nod of his head.  
"Typical." Nick complained, "Just typical. Well it's two in the morning, and savage animals are mauling cops, and we're trapped behind a couple of closed doors listening to them scream out their last moments!"

"Nick, hold on." Judy held up a paw to calm him a little. She then turned back to Pete. "Why don't we batter those doors down anyway? It might take a while but we can't leave our fellow officers to that torture."  
"No equipment." Luis then cut in as he lifted another lit cigarette to his lips. He exhaled heavily then continued. "The Chief is on the way with ZRD."  
Judy straightened up, "The ZAIRD."  
"The..." Nick paused hearing the ZAIRD mentioned. He'd never actually met the Division before but he was perfectly aware that they existed. "What does that stand for again Carrots?"  
Judy smiled back at Nick coyly. "Silly fox, you should know this."

"Yes, you should." Luis exhaled again, "They are the Zootopia Assault Infiltration and Rescue Division. They do all the things that we do and don't do, but they do it _outside_ of Zootopia. The Rescue Division are the ones on the way here now."

"The Rescue Division? They rescue animals? They're going to do our job for us?" Nick began complaining again even though he wasn't willing to actually get into another fight with a savage animal. Pulling over street racers and serving papers was more his style. But then again, high speed chases, scurries and of course, stopping bank robberies was more of Judy's thing.

The red panda exhaled another cloud of smoke, "Chief Bogo thinks we need them. You want to prove him wrong? Get up those stairs."  
Nick took a step back, feeling threatened by this officer in the long trench coat, but he didn't say anything in defense.

Judy however did.

"What is Chief Bogo's ETA?" She asked out loud. No one responded.

"We're not certain." Pete admitted.  
"Why not radio him?! Use his frequency." She told the Wolf, but he shook his head again.

"The screaming... it _is_ on Chief Bogo's frequency."  
"Why would he...?" Judy began, but shook her head. "Never mind. Nick, we're going in."  
"Carrots, I want to save our fellow officers as badly as you do, but how can we expect to make it up there without equipment?"

"We'll find a way." Judy then rushed past Nick, seizing his paw and charged towards the building, leaving Pete, Jane and Luis standing with the wrecked vehicle.

"Interesting couple." Luis commented and put his cigarette out on the damaged hood of Pete's vehicle.  
"Hey!" The wolf protested, "What do you think you're-"  
"I'll reimburse you for it." Luis muttered while pulling up the lapels of his coat and following Judy and Nick.  
"Where do you think you're going!?" Pete called after him, "We were told to wait for the Chief."  
"ZPD, was told to wait for the Chief." Luis could barely be heard as he got further away from the Wolf and Cheetah. "I'm a detective. I do things my way."

"...Unbelievable that guy." Pete growled mildly, then sighed deeply. "Some night huh, Rookie?" The wolf then spun to his partner who hadn't moved an inch from her spot.

"...Yeah." Jane finally broke her apparent vow of silence.  
"Are you okay, Rook?" Pete put his paws on Jane's shoulders, trying to look into her eyes. "First night wasn't the way you expected at all, huh?"  
"...It's ... different." Jane admitted pausing frequently, "I want to be an officer but... That woman, she..."  
"I know." Pete nodded, "We'll figure everything out, and bring the criminals responsible to justice."  
"Can we?" Jane looked up at Pete, locking eyes with him. "How can we save animals if we don't know how they're getting hurt?"  
"We can save them by being good officers and stopping criminals before they get out of hand." Pete openly admitted, trying to keep her doubt sustained.  
"But," Jane however was loaded with doubt for the moment. "If we don't know where the criminals are...?"

"We can't be expected to know _everything_ , Rookie. But we're expected to do everything in our power to serve and protect, and sometimes we don't win. We are police after all." The wolf spoke with a comforting smile on his muzzle, still trying to be supportive.  
"But police-"  
"Make mistakes-like every other animal. Stick with me, and we'll make it through this and avenge the victims, alright?" He exhaled deeply, slightly even doubting himself at this point.  
"I..." Jane sighed along with him. "I just didn't expect the first thing I'd see on patrol was..."  
"Yeah-" Pete nodded, "We're ZPD, we'll figure it out don't worry." He then shifted his gaze in the direction of the Plastics Multi-Purpose International building where the three officers ran off to.

"...We're ZPD."

.

* * *

.

 **Thunk**.

A grate fell over, opening a path for the infiltrators to get further inside.  
"Wow, I guess we really _do_ build all buildings kind of the same." The fox commented, sliding on his stomach through the air vents with Judy in the lead. "Didn't we do this a week ago?"  
"Right!" She spoke with triumph. "If all goes well, we should be under the sixtieth floor in another minute or three." The couple pushed and crawled on their bellies, backs and rolled their shoulders in nearly every direction possible to make their way deeper and deeper into the Plastics Multi-Purpose International building.

"Cheese and Crackers, it's pitch black again." Judy groaned, "You'll have to go up front, Nick."  
"No problem, Carrots." Nick nodded and stuck his paws forward, reaching well over Judy's head in an attempt to get some leverage to crawl over her. He stretched forward and managed to tough duct, and rose as high as he could. Allowing the rabbit to slide backwards and let him by.

Judy lowered herself as low as possible and wriggled her rabbit tail while scooting in reverse, slowly pushing past Nick's lower torso and into the rear of the vent.  
"Wow Carrots, it's getting more and more difficult to do that." Nick concealed his laughter with talking.  
"Yeah yeah, it's not easy to get past that bulge you keep rubbing against me either." She coyly snipped at him.  
"What can I say?" The fox crawled forward, "I like bunny butt."  
"You can have all the bunny butt you want after we save our fellow officers, Nick." Judy giggled, starting to lose focus for a minute.

"Well hopefully we can reach them before the ... ZRD get here. ZRD right?"  
"Yes," Judy began reciting off her academy knowledge. "The ZAIRD, broken into three divisions. The Zootopia Assault Division, the Zootopia Infiltration Division and the Zootopia Rescue Division. The Rescue division are tier 1 operators that specifically handle hostage rescue operations... If they're coming here with Chief Bogo, they're going to turn this building on it's head."

"Then... why don't we wait for them to come in?" Nick questioned while crawling. He had to adjust his position while Judy held onto his tail with one paw and followed after him in the darkness of the air ducts.  
"Because they didn't deal with savage animals like we did." Judy admitted. "They would hurt them, or worse."  
Nick thought about it for a moment, "Wouldn't they be briefed by Chief Bogo? That they just need to subdue and inoculate them?"  
"You know the Chief, he's probably seeing red with what's on his radio right now. And if we can at least get a look at what's going on, we could be of some use."  
"Silly bunny, so we're not just doing this for the fame?"  
"It's never been about the fame with me, Nick. It's been about doing the right thing." Judy then slammed her face into Nick's butt as he came to a halt.

"Gah!" Nick gasped.  
"Hey-you have to warn me when you stop." Judy half coughed.  
"Sorry Carrots. We're at another fencing, and my claws are too big you know."  
"Mhmm." She nodded and slowly pushed herself between Nick's legs, crawling towards the grating.

"A-aaah!" Nick gasped, trying to get out of her way, but she scurried right to the grate without disturbing him beyond mild shock. "You gotta warn me too ya know."  
"I know, but I like to feel you close to me. Makes me feel safe." The rabbit admitted, placing her tiny claw against the large hex screw head and began unhinging it.  
Nick was quiet for a moment as he held himself up above Judy, looking down at her blindly unscrewing the grate. He exhaled softly into her fur, bringing his nose down against the nape of her neck.  
"What are we doing Carrots..." He asked softly, sliding a paw around her abs.  
"Saving lives." She answered quickly, feeling around for the next screw head.  
"I mean... What are we doing going after, how many...? Nine? Ten savage animals? How can we do it alone?"  
"We're not alone." Judy answered quickly again, finding the screw hole and getting to work. "We have each other."  
"Carrots, you know what I mean."  
"We're not going to engage them if we can help it, Nick." Judy explained, "We're going to approach and try to either engage the elevator, or unlock the stairs. If we can't do either, we're going to identify anyone we can and make our way out of there, safe and together."

"Safe and together." Nick chuckled, "That should be our phrase."  
"I'd prefer shouting your name over and over again, actually." Judy rose suddenly, rubbing her large rabbit butt against Nick's crotch. He inhaled quickly, scraping his claws against the inside of the ducts.

"Judy..." He whispered.  
"Nick." She whispered back to him, nuzzling up into his neck. "I've got one more screw to go."  
"Heh-" He slyly kept himself from being lewd. "Take your time honey bunny."

"Aww..." Judy nuzzled against him again. "You're sweet when I'm pinned under you in the dark."  
"You're also in uniform." Nick's smile could practically be felt through the darkness instead of seen. "And we're going to save those animals."  
"Right, because we're ZPD." Judy began attacking the last screw.  
"And we're literally trapped in the ventilation system of a major... uh... plastics manufacturer? That reminds me, what _is_ this place anyway? It's too tall to be a factory."

"It's Plastics Multi-Purpose International. They're Zootopia's premiere plastic manufacturer." Judy answered, thinking about it herself.  
"I just said this place is too tall to be a factory, and especially not in the center of Downtown Zootopia." Nick argued, thinking out loud. "So do they... make decisions about plastic here, or is this like... a research lab to make better plastic?"  
"No..." Judy spoke, with doubt in her voice. "Um... you know, I don't know. I know they are who they say they are but, the entire building is PMPI, what could they-"  
"And International? Are they shipping plastic to other places outside of Zootopia?"

Judy nodded, "I'm sure they're responsible for everything plastic in the city. Like medical equipment, recreation equipment, culinary materials, I even think I remember this industry supplying certain polymers to the defense industry at a point in time."

"That's all well and good, but that still doesn't explain why the need-" Nick was cut off by Judy pulling the grate down.  
"We're through."  
"Smart bunny." Nick added, crawling forward over her.  
"Sexy fox." Judy snapped at him playfully as he went on by.  
"Careful, I didn't eat this morning. And you're looking just tasty enough to try out now." He chuckled and pushed forward though the darkness, finally reaching the end of the duct, giving him and her plenty of room to stand up.

"Alright Carrots, here we are. The shaft."  
"Oh Nick, you always know the right things to say." Judy stood and cracked her back and spoke again before he could suggest getting nude. "Looks like it's a solid climb straight up."

"Yep." He smacked his lips. "It happens every ten floors, and since we've done it four times, this will put us right on the sixtieth floor."  
"Uh huh, you ready?" Judy began bouncing like she couldn't wait to get up the tall vent.  
"I'm always ready." Nick commented, revealing his claws to quickly begin scurrying up the elevator after the bunny cop. Judy flawlessly bounced side to side in extremely rapid succession to ascend up the vent shaft. Nick on the other hand had to rely on his own plain feral climbing ability to scale up what was practically a faultless chasm. It didn't take them long, but when they arrived they secretly hoped that it took a bit longer.

Judy landed in the horizontal shaft that connected from the vertical vent column, being tailed by Nick and both were greeted with the horrible smell of blood in the air.

"Oh god..." Judy gagged for a moment, while Nick's mouth unnecessarily began to water-but it also caused a mild retching sensation in his guts along with the bunny.  
"Augh," Nick swallowed hard. "You smell that too huh?"  
"How can I not?!" Judy complained, holding her nose with her fingers. "It's foul!"  
"It's blood." Nick sternly explained, "There's unquestionable violence up here... Just... we have to figure out if we can do anything about it yet..."

"Nick..." Judy took her hand off her nose and threw her arms around him, nuzzling into his vest.  
"Don't worry Carrots... if it's going to get too dangerous... We'll make sure to keep out of harms way. Now let's see if we can find a window into this... undoubtedly terrible world."

The two crawled through the vents further, turning and twisting around the system until they found themselves overlooking a staff room. It smelled like stale coffee and hair spray, but there was no sign of any life or any struggle. Judy and Nick were pressed against the grating, looking back and forth for anything that could that said danger-but nothing made itself apparent.

"It looks clear." Judy noted, then began undoing the hex screws, only for the grate to effortlessly fall off the mounting and cascade to the floor. But with split second thinking, Nick arched forward and seized the metal panel in a paw before it could make any noise. He exhaled sharply, with a..

"Phew!"  
"Smooth moves, Nick." Judy applauded, and seized the panel from his paws to lay it inside the duct.  
"Thanks, Carrots." Nick smiled, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow. "But I say we keep looking around, there's bound to be another-" But Judy was already exiting the vent. "C-Carrots! Carrots! Wait!"  
"It's fine, Nick." Judy jumped down on top of a refrigerator, then onto the floor without making so much as a noise to betray her location.

"You're going to get caught! Get back up here!" He nervously soft-shouted to her.  
"No, I'm not." Judy turned and whispered back up at Nick. "Come on, let's look around." She pulled her stun gun from it's holster and secured it in her paws.

Nick swallowed hard. He knew what he was in for, but he still wasn't looking forward to it. This situation could only get worse from here on out but if he was going to do it for anybody, he'd first be doing it for Judy.

.

* * *

.

The pair crept out of the kitchen, making a little noise as possible while opening the door to quickly become assaulted with the all too familiar grunts and growls of savage animals, clearly fighting for something.

" _Hear that?"_ Judy whispered, and motioned with two fingers down the hallway. Nick nodded but didn't say anything as he took a peek. He could plainly see the elevator door from where he was standing, with a body lying in it's open frame, clearly obstructing it's operation. He squinted, narrowing his gaze to focus in on the motionless figure more, to notice the unmistakable ZPD uniform clothing the unmoving boar.

 _"Crap..."_ Nick whispered, " _I see the elevator, it's blocked... by a body... an officer."_  
Judy gasped as silently as possible and her ears fell back against her back.  
Nick swallowed hard and held a paw up to Judy as a figure began to lurk out into the hallway on all fours. It stopped mid way in the hallway and snapped it's vision in the direction of Nick right as he ducked back.

" _There's a... predator... a savage predator out there."_ Nick whispered, and finally reached down for his own weapon, a stun gun just like Judy's.  
" _What is it?"_ Judy asked, wishing she could get a look at it.  
" _Looked like a bear, but I wasn't sure."_ He whispered back... " _We should get back in the vent."_

" _We can't. The elevator is blocked, but if we can unstick it..."_ Judy began to explain, and Nick shook his head, quickly protesting.  
" _No way, no how. It's too dangerous out there, Judy."  
"Nick, we have to do something to help. If ZPD could use the elevator we could storm the floor."  
"ZPD doesn't have the equipment to even work the stairs. What makes you think they'll storm the floor from an elevator? Why wouldn't they use the..."_

As Nick's sentence began to finish, the floor was soon buffeted with the unmistakable rumbling roar of helicopter blades roaring over head. Something just landed on the roof, and caused all the animals on the floor to go into a frenzy.

Out in the door, Judy and Nick's ears rose hearing the savage animals roaring and scurrying in all directions to escape the noise. They were slamming into walls, knocking down objects and... most frighteningly, coming down the hallway.

"Go!" Nick shouted. "Get in the vent!"  
"Oo-Ok-OK!" Judy finally felt it was time to go, and put her taser away, turning to jump back on top of the refrigerator. She spun and extended a paw to Nick to help him up, only to see him holding the door closed.

"What are you doing!?" She shouted down at him.  
"Giving you time! Go!" Nick held firm against the door, right as a solid impact rocked it, tilting him forward. But he rose to his feet and threw his back against the frame again.

"What?! No! Get up here! They're savage Nick! They'll hurt you!" Judy cried down to the fox who was barring the door with his own frame.  
"Just give a minute Carrots, I'll be right behind you."  
"You can't do this alone! I won't let you!" Judy shouted.  
"You heard that rumble! The ZRD are here, I just have to wait for them to storm in right?" Nick smiled up at her, just as the door took another sudden impact. The fox went sailing and slid across the marble floor as a moose came charging into the room with blood across it's horns. The impact made Nick drop his taser, leaving the fox to search for it while the moose crashed into the room. He was on all fours with a terrifyingly impressive set of slash marks down his face, crossing over one of his eyes, and his teeth were bleeding like he'd bit someone. He was completely naked, showing off his aged muscles through his silky brown pelt. His flat yellow eyes were nearly glowing with anger as he attempted to shake tattered bits of clothes away from his aged white horns.

"Oh my god!" Judy shouted from the top of the fridge, and barely made it into the vent as the moose went crashing into the tall refrigerator.  
"HEY!" Nick shouted up at the Moose as it redirected it's crazy glare away from the vent and to him. "It's not nice to knock over furniture."

"RAAAAAA!" The moose shouted and rammed at Nick with his horns, but Nick was a fox, and foxes were slick. He slid between the Moose's legs as it went slapping into the plain wall of the staff kitchen, charging it's horns into a cabinet, sending coffee filters, sugar packets and tea bags all across the floor and counter tops.

"RAAAA!" The moose continued to shout and swept around expertly, attempting to bludgeon Nick with it's mighty set of horns. Nick, however, was a still a sly fox and dodged the horns just as easily the second time as he did the first time.

"Take it easy pal, I'm ZPD." Nick commented, jumping away from the Moose on it's third rush and leapt onto the counter tops. "I'm here to help you." He tried to calm the savage animal down.

"NICK!" Judy shouted from the vent. "What are you doing?!"  
"I'm trying to get through to him! It worked last time!" Nick called back, turning his head towards Judy and away from the Moose.  
"NO it didn't! Pay attention!" Judy screamed, watching the Moose closing in on Nick as he took his eyes away from the target. But Nick was slick for a reason, and he took to the air as the moose's horns came crashing into the wall and counter top, while Nick slid down his back and power slid on his knees across the polished marble floor, finding, grabbing and charging his taser all in one swift motion as the Moose pulled it's horns out of a packet of artificial sweeteners and plastic to-go cups to charge at him again.

Full of confidence, Nick aimed his police taser and let the savage animal have a jolt of it-a few thousands jolts.

"R-RAAAAAAAA!" The moose shivered completely paralyzed for a moment, nearly turning a darker shade of brown in the process.  
"It's called dodging buddy, and I'm the best at it." Nick clicked the button on the taser, pulling the shocking cables back into the weapon as the stunned body hit the ground, disabled completely.

"See, nothing to i-" Nick spun towards Judy who was pulling her own taser at the time, to see the frightening image of a female brown bear descending upon him. She was over twice his size, and was coated in fresh blood from her mouth down her tattered front and to her dress. A dodge was barely enough to get out the way of the bear's extremely swift swinging arc-but Nick managed to avoid getting gored as he push himself against the cabinet-but his vest was shredded in seconds from the animals powerful, but dull, claws.

"CARROTS?!" Nick howled nervously as she aimed and fired the taser straight into the back of the savage brown bear. The bear arched back in agony as disabling lightning went coursing through her body, giving Nick enough time to sweep around the bear and charge towards the fridge, only to see a third savage animal charging into the room, things were getting bad.

He was forced to do an incredible acrobatic back flip off the downed fridge in order to avoid the male tiger leaping at him with it's claws fully extended. Nick landed on the marble floor barely able to keep his footing as he came down on a pack of spit covered tea bags, and slid onto his butt. Judy was then thrown from the vent by the Tiger slamming through the cables that held the bear in place, and she nearly perfectly went soaring at Nick-who rose just in time to seize her out of the air like a fuzzy foot ball.

"N-Nick?!" Judy glanced up to him, her eyes full of fear. "We're in trouble."  
"I know, let's run!" Nick pulled Judy into his arms and turned to run to the back of the kitchen, not at all thinking things through as he managed to only back himself and Judy into a relatively tiny corner. The only things at his left and right were kitchen appliances, a sink and cabinets full of god knows what.

"Nick, we're trapped!" Judy shouted up at him, as she wrestled her way out of his arms.  
"Yeah, Carrots I noticed. Sorry-I thought there was another hole we could possibly scurry through."

"Don't worry, we'll make it through this." Judy stood her ground, with her hands ready at her hips like she was preparing to dodge while the savage tiger, and newly recovered, savage brown bear began stalking towards them. Both animals, even though they were of different species and gender, were clearly working together to attack them... It barely made any sense to the officers, but they had no time to think about the complexities, only to survive.

Nick glanced to his left and right, hoping there would be something around that could possibly help them out of this, when he noticed a Tea Maker. "Ah-ha!" He exclaimed, slightly stealing Judy's attention.

"W-what?" Judy tried not to look in Nick's direction but she had to, peeking at him fiddling with the appliances "What are you doing?"  
"Making tea." Nick plainly admitted with a grin, filling the conveniently placed basin under the faucet with water.  
"Why!?" Judy shouted, right as the tiger took a running leap at her. She timed it perfectly and bounced as high as she could over the tiger's head, nearly hitting the ceiling in the process.

At the same moment, the brown bear took a running charge at Nick. The tigers face crashed into the counter right as he spun to sling the instantly boiling hot water right into the bear's face. The bear reared back in searing hot pain, roaring out loud and clawing at her own face to get the boiling water out of her fur. Nick took that moment to step past the stunned savage animals and caught Judy as she came down with gravity's graces.

"Sly bunny." Nick winked at her.  
"Clever fox." Judy recounted, dropping to her feet and running for the door while Nick propped himself up before the vent. Judy veered off and into the hallway, leaving Nick to start panicking.

"W-whoa, Carrots!? Where you going?!"  
"We have to-IEEE!" Judy screamed as she turned into the hall and out of Nick's vision.

"JUDY!" Nick flew faster than he ever did before, running into the hallway and almost tripping over his own tail seeing Judy standing in the center of three fallen animals, that just had to be savages. None of them were moving, not even Judy.

"Carrots?" Nick asked, reaching out for her and pulling her into his arms. Judy was clearly stunned for a moment staring down at them, but snapped out of as Nick seized her.  
"Nick, look at them..." She whispered at him, pointing at the animals. A deer with short spiraling horns, more like an Ibex than anything, it was a woman. A male ram, and a white lioness. The three of them were lying, half naked, on the floor with scratches and scars across their exposed parts, clearly where the fabric had been cleaved away from them, but more importantly, they were inert and leaking from their mouths with a tacky white foam.

"What... the..." Nick mouthed silently.  
"What happened to these animals?" Judy asked, while stepping out of Nick's grasp again, accidentally shredded fibers of his torn vest across her back and hips.  
"More importantly..." Nick began following her, "What took them out? We heard screaming all day, and snarling as soon as we got here-now they're spent? What is even..."  
"Shh!" Judy shushed him as she approached the end of the hallway, leaning her back against the wall preparing to peek around the corner.

Nick watched her motions and pulled back for his taser, prepared to defend her with his life if anything were to happen. But as Judy peeled herself from the wall to glance around the corner, she hesitated for a moment, then directed Nick to silently run for the elevator.

She motioned with her two fingers, adjusting her paws back again list as she did in the kitchen as Nick stepped past her and made his way for the elevator, trying to focus on anything but the elevator and the body that was obstructing it, and as he reached the blocked door, he began to wish he could have focused on anything but his task.

The boar officer of the ZPD was lying motionless with multiple puncture wounds in his throat. He was clearly dead by the glazed over expression in his eyes, and the fact that he was actually quite cold, the only thing he hadn't done was crap his pants, much to the delight of the living and non-savage present. The fox wasted no time pulling the body from the elevator and turned to Judy, terrified to see her standing in the center of the room with her taser out, staring down a male lion that looked more like Leodore than Leodore did, with the throat of a ZPD officer held tightly in his fangs. The officer, a female zebra, was holding his fangs at bay with her bloody hands but it was obvious that she had completely run out of energy to struggle for her life. She didn't even turn to look at Nick or Judy as the lion's jaws crushed down harder and she released the tiniest groan in protest.

Nick's blood ran cold with the vision taking him. How could all this be happening?

"Nick..." Judy called to her partner.  
"Judy?" Nick asked, not liking the situation or what he was about to hear. He didn't know what she was going to say-but he knew he didn't want to hear it.  
"He's got an officer." She began to explain.  
"Carrots... what are you doing?" Nick's blood began to grow even colder, seeing her lowering her weapon. If it wasn't for the cadaver next to him, Nick would swear that this had to be some kind of sick reality that he was accidentally thrown into. As a matter of fact, the cadaver does make him think this is some sick reality.

"He's going to kill her, Nick." Judy continued to explain. "I'm not going to let an officer die if I can help it."  
"J-Judy." Nick trembled, finally taking everything in. "Don't do what you're doing. He's... he's savage. He'll kill you."  
"I'm saving her, Nick." Judy set her weapon down and dropped to all fours, locking her eyes with the lion. The lion growled past the neck in his throat keeping his vision set on the rabbit before him. Seeing a new moving target, he spat the zebra out, cascading her blood from his fangs to the dirty floor.

Nick didn't want to wait to see what was going to happen next, and pulled his taser. As he did, however, the lion took a diving leap at Judy. She broke away from him, jumping backwards to avoid his impressively sharp looking claws. Nick took a shot at the lion, only hitting him in the mane, but not connecting with flesh, failing to stun him. The lion charged forward at Judy while she was still coming down. He stomped down, crunching deceased ZPD officers under his paws as he closed the distance between himself and the falling officer. Nick was powerless to stop the savage lion as his claws got closer and closer to Judy's vulnerable flesh until-

 **BLAM - !** A gunshot rang out in the room.

The savage lion nearly exploded in a hail of crimson and smoke as he was sent sailing in the opposite direction of Judy. Both her and Nick turned in an instant in the direction of the shooter. What they saw was more like a robot than any kind of animal they'd ever seen before, but it was an animal none the less. It came crashing through the window in one sweeping motion, carrying a heavy black cable in it's paw that was attached to it's hip by a large complicated looking clamp. Covered in head to toe in black plated tactical gear, it was obvious this was some kind of Zootopia Division Officer, complete with the ZAIRD logo emblazoned across it's back, but they wore a thick helmet complete with a face mask that circulated their breathing like they were underwater. Sinister looking red eye holes betrayed the nature of this officer as they undid their cable. The soldier was also armed, heavily, a submachine gun strapped to their chest, a thick tactical pistol, with flash light, resting in their paws and multiple canisters and spare clips lining their fatigues and armor.

Judy took a step back as the black clad animal threw back the black cable aside and quickly stomped up to the lion that was writhing around in agony on the ground, roaring and howling from the impacts. The soldier lifted it's heavy black boot and descended it on the throat of the lion to hold him in place while it saved it's handgun around to beam the flash light directly into the lions eyes. It barely managed to get out a growl before the officer put three more rounds into the creature's chest-effectively stopping it from moving ever again.

"Holy crap!" Nick gasped, running over to Judy to separate her from the soldier in question, right as seven more of them came crashing through the other windows, scaring Nick and Judy even more. They all looked pretty much like the first one, only their tails betrayed their species as they swung about while they undid their cables. But each of them wore dark helmets with masks that concealed their identities, and adjusted their breathing to sound like they were coming through a filter.  
"Nick, these guys are..." Judy gasped. Quickly being pushed against the wall with Nick by a phalanx of guns and red lasers in their faces.  
"ZAIRD, I take it...?" Nick asked, holding his hands straight up in the air as the lasers switched to flash lights beaming him in the eyes.  
"Yeah." Judy exhaled deeply, not sure what to think now but she put her hands up too, right as the flash lights began to assault her vision as well, making it extremely hard for them to see.

The ZAIRD officer that shot the lion stomped over to the Zebra who was lying on the ground, holding her throat and barely making a noise.  
"Hold on, rescue is here." A deeply filtered voice came through the mask of the officer.  
The zebra didn't make a motion to even speak as the ZAIRD officer next to her began silently directing people around the floor. Right as they did, however, the elevator doors sprang open revealing a heavy squad of ten ZPD officers, carrying shot guns, helmets and riot shields. Coming up against a wall of red lasers, flash lights and armor piercing weapons.

"STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN!" Both Chief Bogo, and the ZAIRD officer shouted before anything terrible could happen, ushering both sides to lower their arms and stand at ease. Chief Bogo, the Cape Buffalo, stepped forward from the crowd of ZPD officers wearing his own version of riot gear, that looks suspiciously similar to the ZAIRD uniform, but clearly less armored, much larger and blue. Although Chief Bogo's stern demeanor immediately shifted to distress when he was allowed to view the sixtieth floor.

"W-what happened here." Bogo's shoulders slumped, turning left to right to observe the horrible amount of casualties present.

Of the six ZPD officers that had made it to the floor only an hour ago, five of them were confirmed killed in action and one was in critical condition with a bleeding neck wound. The savage animals, which still hadn't been completely accounted for, were also all dead.

The walls, which at a point in time were polished marble like the floor, and were now stained with spit, blood and claw marks. The floor itself was nearly completely housing a half inch layer of blood and mucus, and glass shards were now strewn about threatening all but those who were of cloven hooved feet or wearing boots.

There was a long moment of unnecessary silence as Chief Bogo slowly approached the Zebra lying inert on the floor, she was barely breathing but smiling ever so slightly as she set her sights on her captain. The Chief crouched to place his hand atop of hers above her neck as she held on for dear life...

"Captain Alex." Chief Bogo called to the Captain of the ZAIRD forces, not even turning his head.  
"Chief Bogo?" The ZAIRD captain approached, finally putting away their handgun and switching off the flash light.

"Thank you." Bogo plainly exhaled, disappointed in what had unfolded under his watch.  
"Don't thank us yet, Chief." The ZAIRD commander turned away from the depressed ZPD Chief and approached the fox and rabbit still held in place on the wall.

"Status?" The captain asked the officers watching them.  
"They appear clean ma'am." One of the soldiers responded.  
"Ma'am?" Judy and Nick asked in unison, as the Captain turned to them and began unclipping her mask. She pulled up the goggles and set them on her helmet, revealing her swirling pink eyes to the both of them. She was a fox with red tipped black hair and purple eye shadow, but that was all that they could tell.

"I am Captain Alexandria N Vengar," The captain pleasantly spoke, with a rich and mature tone to her voice. It was now obvious that they had been synthesizing their voices on purpose though the filter. "A pleasure to meet you both, now please come along peacefully, you are under arrest."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thanks for checking out chapter 3. As a mention, the rating will shift from M to T, for the duration-since I won't be including any explicitly gory or erotic scenes for at least another few chapters. I also apologize beforehand with the vast introduction of sub-characters. They're filler characters that temporarily fill a role. If you have any suggestions for other species or types of background characters, feel free to make a mention, anything can help flesh out the world of Zootopia since it was designed so well and left extremely open to interpretation. Thanks for sticking with this fic so far, I hope you enjoy._

* * *

"Again." The near robotic voice of the ZAIRD officer rang through Nick's exhausted ears and the walls of the tiny isolation room.  
"Again...?" The fox groaned, laying his head down on the interrogation table he was sitting before. The handcuffs that were affixed to him rattled softly as he tried to get half-comfortable while under questioning, but the cold emotionless steel of the interrogation table prevented him from taking even a hint of comfort from this situation. He was tired. He was clearly confused. He was hungry and his only friend was out of his sight. Not a great combination for a monday-saturday-anyday morning.

His tired eyes rolled up to face the black armored officer in front of him, beaming with an expressionless robotic glare through their field helmet and mask. They sat patiently with their giant hands clasped together at the table. This was just strange and unusual, even by Zootopian standards. And the air in the room smelt funny to Nick, not ' _haha'_ funny but ' _medicine and science'_ funny.

Nick on the otherhand had been completely stripped of his ZPD uniform and was now wearing an orange, near prison-like, one piece jump suit imprinted with a large number "02" printed on his chest and back like he was produce. He scanned the room with his eyes while keeping his head in place, scanning for what felt like the hundredth time, recounting the objects that were present. One table, which he was sitting at. Two chairs, both occupied. A lamp, directly above his head. The door, he was likely to never be allowed to walk through ever again, and a one way mirror that undoubtedly concealed one or more animals looking in at this interrogation. Oh, and the hand cuffs that held him in place. Firmly in place.

"I'm waiting, fox." The ambiguous officer sighed down to Nick's head. Their voice wasn't stern, mean or hostile in any way, just filtered and robotic, like that of a space explorer or a storm trooper who had nothing to do. It was unpleasant. Nick's ears were so flat against his head they were almost a part of his neck, trying his best to show how much fun he wasn't having with this. He and Judy had been brought here, to this 'base' without a good reason, stripped, then forced to answer questions non-stop, and is running off of only about two or three hours of sleep, not having a single bite to eat, and crawling up sixty stories of ventilation shaft.

"Fine." Nick groaned, "If you want to hear the story _again_ , I'll tell it _again._ I, and my fellow officer-"  
"Who is?" The dark clad officer cut in, as they did each and every time Nick failed to call or mention someone by name.

Nick put a cuffed paw over his muzzle and sighed deeply. "Officer. Judy. Hopps." He chomped out, trying to move on. "We were called to the scene by order of Chief Bogo and asked to wait for further instructions at the PMPI bu-"  
"PMPI. Plastics Multi-Purp-" The Officer cut in, but was then cut in on by Nick anyway.  
"-Multi-Purpose International." They both said in unison, one less chipper than the other.

"Yes yes, we know it's the building," Nick groaned again, "Can I continue? Again? For the fifth time? Again?!" He asked, waving his chained paws around with aggravation.  
"You may." The officer calmly responded, much to Nick's ire. They were taking pleasure in this somewhere, and he had no choice other than to comply. They were also law enforcement after all so they could be trusted to... some degree.

"So... as I was saying. Judy Hopps, the bunny. And myself... the fox," Nick paused, staring at the emotionally masked animal before him.  
"Go on." The officer gestured politely, again, to Nick's ire. He wasn't having any fun at all.  
"...Judy and I entered the premises after discovering that a body had been allegedly thrown from the sixtieth floor of the building. But the building, the PMPI building to be specific, was locked down, therefore we were forced to make a probable cause entry by entering the ventilation system and scaling the building from there."

The officer nodded. They had heard this story five times before, but six times couldn't hurt.  
"Once Judy and myself reached the designated floor, we entered the scene and began searching for clues, only to be happened upon by the savage animals and we were forced to protect ourselves using non-lethal force, as per our training."  
The officer spoke up, asking the same question they had asked five times prior. "You were trained to engage hostiles with non-lethal force?"  
Nick scratched his tired face, "Yes..." He sighed. "ZPD implores that non-lethal force should be the first option whenever engaging a hostile threat. If the threat were to go beyond, a judgment call can be made to switch to lethal force, but caution should be employed in order not to severely injure, cripple or kill the target in question."  
"Very good." The officer nodded, "ZPD has-" Nick cut in again, knowing the near exact shtick that they were following.  
"-has trained Officers to value the lives of it's citizens, criminal or not." He nearly slammed his head into the cold metal table. "Yes, yes, can I please finish?"  
The officer remained motionless, staring Nick down through their helmet... probably.

"...Um, hello?" Nick rose a brow. This wasn't anything like the previous times now.  
"Go on." The Officer suddenly spoke up.  
"...Did, you fall asleep in your helmet?" He half grinned.  
"Don't be ridiculous." The officer responded plainly.

"Well then, if you don't mind, I'd love to get some sleep myself, so to wrap the story up. We fought a moose, then a bear, then a tiger, then a lion, then you guys showed up. Wiz-bang-boom, and we wound up here. Stripped totally naked. Blasted with the coldest water in Zootopian history, assaulted with flash lights and sonar equipment, then asked to tell the same camp fire story time and time and time again, as if my story would deviate or change over the course of fifty five minutes!" Nick was standing up on the table by the time he'd finished shouting, not even sure why he decided to stand up the way he did.

The officer before him, had their head tilted up to match their robotic gaze with Nick's, but said nothing to his antics. Nick, feeling awkward, slowly backed down and returned to his seat, adjusting his butt so wake it back up.

"S-sorry." Nick lowered his ears. "I just... would really like to get some sleep and you with that helmet, and this whole place-I mean, you guys did blind fold us to take us here. I thought we were just going to end up at a pizza place but... heh heh, guess not."  
"Officer." The black armored Officer cut in.  
"Y-yes?"  
"Do you admit that you came into no contact with the infected animals earlier this morning?"

"Do I?" Nick wrinkled his brow, "Yes, of course. I didn't get grabbed or bit or anything."  
"Good." The Officer rose, passively scaring Nick further into his chair. Only now did he notice that the Officer's height was actually taller than his own. He would judge that this person was shorter than Chief Bogo, but taller than him-which wasn't saying all that much, he wasn't all that tall even by ZPD standards where officers of all sizes were employed.

"And you admit that the animals in question were savage, correct?"  
"Well..." Nick paused, "It was weird, they did act savage but they didn't... look exactly... like they'd gone savage."  
The officer remained in place and remained standing, staring down at the fox while he thought out loud.

"You see, I dealt with savage animals, and they were mean, vicious, ferocious and not too keen on words. But the animals in the PMPI building, they were... well..." Nick cleared his throat. "Mean, vicious, ferocious and not too keen on words either, but they were also _drooling_ , they had blood shot eyes, they were covered in claw marks that well... to be honest looked more self inflicted than anything else since they clearly weren't fighting each other and ..." The fox paused once again, recounting the event in his own head.

"When I glared into their eyes... When I looked into the eyes of a savage animal, I can tell that they're thinking on the most simplest, most basic level. They're thinking about nothing but survival. But when I looked into the eyes of that lion, the bear, the moose and the tiger, their eyes didn't say _survival_. They said... _kill_."

"Kill?" The officer repeated Nick, but they didn't move an inch.  
"Yeah..." Nick spoke softly, glancing up into the visor and helmet of the ZAIRD officer. "Like, they weren't planning on ... _eating_ me, or even _hurting_ me... just _killing_ me. For sport, or by some sick desire. It wasn't for a reason it was just... _bloodlust_. Worse than savage."

"Yes, yes it is." The officer plainly responded again.  
"What, did you already know about this?" Nick frowned slightly, hating that he had another moment and this moment was without his clever bunny.

"That information is classified." The officer responded plainly again. . . again.  
"Classified?!" Nick snorted. "I'm ZPD! Apart of this case! There are no less than twenty dead animals tied to this, and you have classified information?!"  
"That is also classified." The officer didn't change their tune or game. It was like they really _were_ a robot.  
"Is that all you have to say to me?! Are you some kind of machine or something?!" Nick snarled, losing his temper.  
"No." The officer, who was clearly not a robot, responded fluidly. "I am merely following protocol Officer Nick Wilde. I apologize for detaining you here for so long, but you had to be sterilized from potential infection, and we of the ZRD understand that misery loves company, so an officer is tasked with sitting in with the potentially infected during the decontamination process."

"...Decontamination?" Nick repeated slowly. "What!? Is that why the air smells funny? That was... what? Anti-bacterial spray?" He said as, what had to be a spray can, suddenly went off with a ' _hsssss!'_  
The officer in armor lifted their hands to unclasp their goggles and collectively removed their muzzle-filter, goggles and helmet all in one pass to reveal the, surprisingly young, face of a female otter with short white hair, blue eyes and a tiny silver nose ring, sticking out of her black nose. Her fur was standard muddy brown with a few healed scars, and a few missing whiskers.

"Something like that, but it's much better and much much slower..." She then groaned in a somewhat, high school cheer leader like tone. High pitched with a bit of rich girl sass. Suddenly, Nick was having fun again, this really was an animal and not a robot.  
"Oh well uh..." He smiled, gesturing down to his hand cuffs. "What are these for?"  
"Oh that?" The otter smiled, "In case you go Primal."  
"Primal?" Nick questioned as his hand cuffs simply, _popped_ off without any interaction from the otter, or at least not directly. A moment before she had tapped something in her pocket, probably a tiny phone or tiny fob. "What the?"  
"ZAIRD Network Application Array Platform. We can remotely control anything in the building from any terminal." The otter cheerfully offered.  
"Really, how interesting. Uh ...was _that_ classified?" Nick asked with a grin as he rose to his feet, rubbing at his wrists that had been in cuffs for nearly sixty minutes.  
"Um, probably." The otter shrugged, "But you're an Officer, no harm right?"  
"Perhaps." Nick grinned as he stepped towards the opening door and out into a long narrow hallway, quickly being followed by the otter. "So... am I free to go?"

"Nope." Again, the otter cheerfully offered as Nick found himself bumping into three other ZAIRD officers. Two of them were wearing their full gear, helmet and all, while the one in the center was helmetless, revealing Captain Alexandria the vixen, wearing a stern frown on her muzzle. She was still dressed the same as when Nick met her the first time, except this time her firearm wasn't being unloaded into a savage lion.

"Ma'am!" The otter saluted.  
"Ma'am." Nick also saluted, because why not.

"At ease." The vixen quipped, turning to glare down at Nick. She was taller than him after all, by about four inches or so... maybe it was just the boots though. "I have a question for you, Wilde." She wasted no time grilling him. Either she had been waiting in that observation room the entire time, or she was desperate to get this burning question out.  
"Yes?" He rose a brow and wiggled his nose, as the vixen stepped up to him.  
"Do you have any idea what was going on in that building _before_ you broke in without authorization?"

"Um... yeah." Nick half frowned, feeling insulted that he needed to be scrutinized for doing his job. "Six officers unfortunately losing their lives, while they were being mauled to death by sav-no wait _Primal_ animals. That's what you're calling them right, Primal?"  
The otter next to Nick immediately started to sweat, but maintained her composure as best she could.  
Nick also began to sweat, watching Alexandria baring her fangs and made a swift motion with her gloved paw. Nick squinted for a moment, thinking he was going to be slapped for talking back to a superior officer-but opened his eyes to see her handgun was firmly planted against his temple. The cold steel of the barrel chilled his bones as Alexandria stepped even closer to him, ramming him against the solid sounding, but hollow, door of the hallway's interrogation room, threatening him with her weapon in the process.

"Where-did-you-hear-that-phrase?" The vixen demanded, her voice pouring with venom.  
Nick half swallowed, "I overheard when you were hitting me with flashlights and fire hoses. Right when I came in... like an hour and a half ago.." He lied.

"..." Alexandria glared at him, right in his green eyes, then holstered her weapon and allowed him space to breathe. "I see..." She snorted, "It appears that protocol is lacking around here as of late. I'll need to impose harsher codes in the coming weeks to prevent classified information like that from escaping." It wasn't clear if she believed him or not, but clearly someone needed to be punished.

"Classified?!" Nick protested. "Hey-if you know something that can help the ZPD, you need to let us know so we can better handle the situation!"  
"Handle?!" Alexandria scoffed, "I wouldn't task such a dangerous matter to _local_ law enforcement."  
"What?!" Nick gasped, "Since when did local cops become the laughing stock!? We don't have fancy guns, battle armor or... whatever in the hell this place is." Nick waved his paws around, gesturing to everything all at once. He meant the building-he just didn't know _where_ the building was. "But we're not morons. We're good cops, doing what we can to keep a violent city, safe for children and elders, tall and small."

Alexandria stood her ground as Nick shouted at her, a small twinkle sparked in her eye watching the fox's resolve spark up for what he believed in.  
"So you say," She turned away from Nick dragging her claws through her black hair, holding the red tips as she peeked back at him through her conditioned locks. "But the situation is quite dangerous. I don't wish to see any more of your fellow officers injured or hospitalized. We were lucky you saved the Zebra when you did-but she will require weeks of care and physical therapy before she can walk again."

"Walk?" Nick's resolve faded, now thinking about the wounded Zebra Officer.  
"Yes, of course, walk. You must have only paid attention to her throat-but her legs were mangled and her ribs were in horrid condition. She's lucky to be alive-she is a strong girl." Alexandria sighed and began to walk away, gesturing for her guards to follow her. Which they did, without question, swishing their wolf tails behind them as they followed.

"Sergeant, be sure to redirect Officer Wilde to the Rehabilitation Wing to join his friend, I do not believe there is reason to keep him here... if he behaves himself."  
"Behave myself, what do you mean b-" Nick was cut off by the Otter, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey." She smiled down at Nick. He turned to her, starting to wonder how an otter was so much taller than he was. Especially when he compared his height to Captain Alexandria's height. She was only a few inches taller than Nick, but this Otter, Sergeant whatsherface, was easily a foot and a half taller... Maybe fish is good for you.

"Hey," She repeated herself. "Thanks for not exposing me out to the Captain. I mean, we'll all end up with longer, and harder shifts because of me buuuut at least no one will find out so I won't get hit with bars of soap in my sleep."  
"Yeesh," Nick peeled back, "That happens? Here?"  
"Sometimes." The otter giggled, "Come on, I'm taking you to the Rehabilitation Wing."  
"...Oh joy." Nick groaned. "This, Rehab place... You're not seriously going to wipe my brain or psychologically will me into forgetting I was ever here are you? Because there's someone I need to see, to make sure she's safe"

"What?" The otter laughed, "No, no! We take people there before they leave, so they can get their clothes, have something to nibble on and possibly even grab a nap if we're not releasing detainees yet."  
"A nap!? Perfect." Nick clapped his paws together. "Just point me in the direction of my bunny and I'll do whatever you ask."  
"Who?" The otter grinned, to Nick's previously forgotten ire.

"Judy Hopps! You know who I'm talking about." He half snarled, being lead by the near six foot tall otter woman.  
"You two dating?" The otter slyly questioned him.  
"That information... _is classified._ " Nick closed to conversation and marched on with is head held high, but his tail was dragging low-he was still exhausted after all, and missing his bunny.

"Where is _here,_ anyway?" The fox finally questioned his physical location while passing through a large metal access door.

.

* * *

.

"You live in Bunny Borough?! I lived in Bunny Borough!" A large male rabbit laughed harder than any rabbit has ever laughed before. So much that Judy was hardly able to keep from grabbing the edges of her seat as the man bellowed with joy. "I miss the fair." He sighed a deep manly sigh.

"The fairs still happen." Judy explained, "They happen every year, and there's a kids play where we teach history, or literature, or culture, and there are fair games and-"  
"-and a blue ribbon produce contest?!" The big bunny was nearly boiling over with excitement.  
"Yep, every year." Judy smiled, half nervous, half flattered that someone-that she'd never met before-from her home town, was still so fond of it.  
"My family used to ALWAYS enter the Blue Ribbon produce contest, never won a single blue ribbon either, on account of them darn night howlers..."  
"Night Howlers?" Judy adjusted herself in her seat. She was also swept from head to toe in prison orange, with a '01' printed on her front and back just like Nick. "Did someone eat them?"

"Naw," The, now country, rabbit explained. "Night Howlers grew in our patches so much that nothing else would ever grow there. Heck, except for potatoes n squash. But then the Squash would get squished as my Pa would be tearin' up those Night Howlers."  
"And... No one ate them?" Judy inquired further, looking at him more. She noticed, finally, that this particular rabbit was dangerously similar to her and her own family. Grey bunny, with white soft fur, tall and long ears, and blue eyes. He had big teeth whenever he smiled or spoke, and his diction was closer to that of a country boy like Gideon Grey, than her own city accent. But he could describe Bunny Borough down to the carrot so he wasn't just making things up as he went along. As a matter of fact, he reminded her more of her father than anyone else she may have met before-but it would be strange to assume she had ever met him before. He was a ZAIRD officer, and there were no bunny cops before her . . . right?

"Ate em?" The bunny laughed, "Naw, we ate everything we could get our paws on, but Ma always said ' _If the insects won't touch em, nor should we.'_ "  
"Smart woman." Judy nodded, thinking about what her situation would have been like today, if Night Howlers were discovered and cured before she had ever become an officer. She was in her twenties right now, and this man was clearly somewhere in his forties. So if there had been more foresight into the matter, she may have very well have never graduated to where she was today. She may not have been able to stop BellWeather and save the city, and she may not have had the opportunity to become such good friends with Nick. A future she was uncertain about but in preference of avoiding. Her life was turbulent right now-but having a sly guy to hold onto during the rough times made it all the better. If only he were here-

"Carrots!" She suddenly had her prayers answered. Without even looking, or hesitating, Judy shot out of her chair and hit the ground running, charging towards the fox who was strolling up to her in his own prison orange jump suit. The two collapsed into each other in a tight embrace, immediately lifting tons of weight from each other's emotional shoulders.

"Nick!" Judy nuzzled into his chest.  
"Aw, did ya miss me Carrots?" Nick smiled down at Judy's head, right as she turned up to smile into his eyes.  
"Was I about to come and find you myself?" She asked herself a question, "Yes-yes I was."  
"These guys couldn't keep me away from you if they tried." Nick slyly suggested, nuzzling Judy's nose with his own, attracting the attention of the otter and rabbit in the room, but neither of them spoke any words of protest.

"Were you questioned too?" Judy pulled away from Nick slowly, pulling him towards a thin row of chairs that were left out for random seating. The room they were in was more like a DMV, than a rehabilitation center. Or at least if it was a rehab center, this was the lobby where the normal people sit while waiting to get in to see someone on visitation.

"I was." Nick nodded, sitting down next to Judy. "You know they also told me I could grab some shut eye in here with my bunny."  
"Nick." Judy jabbed his shoulder. "Don't you think we should be getting-"  
"-home?" Nick cut in. "We burned it down, Carrots. Remember?"  
"...We ... scorched it." Judy de-escalated the severity a bit.  
"We may have broiled it, yes." Nick re-evaluated the severity.  
"Was it well done...? Yes, yes it was." Judy retorted quickly.  
"But Officer, isn't black and crispy _over-done?_ " Nick recovered immediately.  
"Um no," Judy held up a paw, pretending to hold a microphone. "The term would be, _just enough."_  
"Wait," Nick snorted with a laugh. "How _just enough_ , is a burned building supposed to be?"

Judy paused for a moment, thinking about it... thinking about it... thinking about it... then she turned to Nick and leaned in to kiss him quickly on the lips.

" _Just enough."_ She whispered softly.  
". . . !" He didn't have anything to say in protest that time, because this is what he truly wanted. All the action and crime that had taken place in the last three hours was all summed up in just a moment. Judy, was his best and only friend in the whole world, and having her nearby was all he ever needed in order to keep moving forward. He always lived by the motto to never let anyone see that they had gotten to him, but Judy had, in the best way possible.  
The bunny stretched her arms in the air and folded them down around Nick's abs, lowering her head into his chest again. Judy felt the same way about Nick. Times were slowly getting rougher out of no where. The ZPD had unfortunately lost a lot of good officers, and the ZAIRD, which was Zootopia's elite police unit, was now active in the city. The situation could get scary, but approaching it with Nick made things twice, if not three times easier to carry on with. She had plenty of siblings, but she was normally always on her own. Only when she realized that her friendship with this fox was nearly shattered during the BellWeather incident did she realize that she actually preferred, if not needed someone like him in her life. It was a comforting thought, so she nuzzled closer into his fur and got comfortable. "I'm tired Nick." She admitted without warning, starting to gel into him with little resistance.

"Me too, Carrots." Nick clasped his arms around her back, pulling her into his lap. "I'll ask one of these guys where we can bed down... and where we're at. The lady I was with wouldn't offer up anything."  
"Classified?" Judy questioned.  
"Classified." Nick confirmed with an unhappy frown, as if frowns could be happy.  
"Typical." The bunny yawned, causing Nick to also yawn.

"Well," Nick patted Judy's head and expertly slid out from under her and out of his chair so he could go find someone to question-although strangely, every animal who worked in this place, had somehow vanished from the room without a trace, and this was a big open empty room. "I ... um, was looking for someone to question but..."

"They're-" Judy yawned loudly again. "Gone?"  
"Yep." Nick frowned, as he stepped up to the large security door he previously came through with the currently unnamed otter soldier. He tapped on it with his tiny black fox claws, hoping it would open or at least trigger a response from a camera operator somewhere-but to no avail. "So what, they just lock people in here and forget about them?" He complained, confused out of his sleepy wits. Maybe they weren't trust worthy for law enforcement.  
"Hmm... not sure." Judy's spoke through fatigue. With her eyes closed, she was leaning against the back of Nick's chair with her legs tucked up against her chest. Despite all the action and need to keep her head in the game, the bunny was running practically on empty.

Nick returned to Judy's side, witnessing her in her pathetic state of near exhaustion. He had no choice other than to pick her up and cradle her against his chest. He was tired too. Tired of being out all night. Tired of being interrogated. Tired of being awake and he was tired of being separated from the one person that gave him hope. He didn't want to be apart from her again.

"Aw, Carrots." He whispered, nuzzling her head with his chin. "I'll find us some place to bed down, and then I'll find some answers, because there's still a mystery going on that we need to be a part of." He too then yawned loudly. "After a couple of winks, of course."

It made no sense to the sleepy bunny or the tired fox. Where could all of the security possibly have gone? There were no sirens, there were no alarms, and the two officers nearby certainly didn't suddenly shed a few hundred pounds and become weightless to just float out of the room. How does a soldier, over 200 pounds, with full tactical gear, _sneak_ anyway? This was the Rescue Division, not the Infiltration Division. Or at least that's what Nick was thinking while carrying Judy around the room. He wandered past chairs, pillars with ZAIRD propaganda and generic orders, and tables with clean ash trays and bottle openers but saw nothing of value. He continued searching however, looking for one of those terminals the otter had mentioned earlier.

To her credit, and his curiosity, he finally managed to come across one, a lone terminal with an ominous blue glow, like that of a cell phone on with a full charge.  
"Bingo." Nick said with a grin, and adjusted Judy against his frame while touching the screen with a paw.

The screen wiped open, revealing the terminal ID, 00112.  
"One twelve..." He repeated, then noticed the entry box for an access code. "Hmm..." Wilde paused for a moment. "I wonder what a group of super armed counter-terrorists would use as a password?"

He was waiting for a response from Judy, or even some kind of warning from the PA system about tampering with government equipment, but he was only granted silence.  
"Hmm..." The fox continued to think, "How about..." He began keying in words.  
' m' He spoke and typed at the same time. " **Access Denied**." The fox muttered, "Well I've got plenty more, and I've been alone for quite some time, so if there's anything I know how to do-it's use a search box in an illegal fashion on a tablet with one hand... How about... ' y'?"

He typed and spoke at the same time, getting the same error code. " **Access Denied**."  
"Darn ... ' _l'?_. . . **Access Denied**." Nick frowned, glaring at the screen.

"Well... hopefully somebody will take notice of my tampering and come in here asking me to stop. Then we can at least get somewhere so ... why not just-" He complained softly while slapping the terminal madly, accidentally finding a ' _request a hint'_ button.

The hint came up on screen in a bright box, Nick wasted no time reading it. " _All passwords are a combination of the last name, and personal identification number of each officer enlisted. No Zootopia Assault Infiltration Rescue and Research Division restrictions apply. Personal Terminals are required to enable password restricted use as public terminals do not require passwords to log in."_

"Last name..." Nick thought to himself, and had wished he were better rested. Because none of the other officers turned their backs on him, like proper, not like that Captain did. He held his free paw up against his head, trying to think, trying to remember, trying to unearth her last name...

"Alexandria... Alexandria... N ... something?!" He growled, stirring Judy in his arms.  
"Nick?" Judy called out to him, even though she was right on top of him.  
"I'm right here, Carrots." He drug his naked paw across her back. Then turned back to the terminal to dismiss the help message, returning to the login screen. There had to be some way he could just fake his way through this terminal, it was _public_ after all right?

"Public..." Nick thought for a moment. "Public!?" He gasped, then began entering another password into the entry field. "' _t'"_

" **Access denied**." His ears fell back against his head, then they perked up again. "Oh wait! ' _2'_ worst thing is can do it deny me." He half muttered as the screen instantly broke through it's screen and gave access to the terminal.

"Hey!" His eyes lit up. "It worked! Carrots we're in! It was a nice thing of them to give me my own login complete with number. Those guys!"  
"Mmhmm." Judy mumbled against his neck, completely out of it.  
"Rest up little bunny." Nick grinned, then spun back to the monitor... now unsure why he was even breaking in, in the first place. But he didn't have to ponder for long, a small icon near the top of the screen was flashing red. It was in the shape of an envelope with an exclamation mark on it, and as long as you existed within the last three years, you would understand that to be an alert, something important no less.

"Let's see what's going on in the ol' ZAIRD net." The fox silently chuckled while tapping the alert icon, which instantly provided a video feed on the terminal before him. It was the news, show casing the quarantined zone of the PMPI building. There were news choppers, news vans, news reporters, animals with jackets that said 'news' on them... basically news all over the place covering this unfortunate event as if it were the last thing they would ever do. And they should, the scene inside was devastating. Roughly 20 dead, and one in critical condition after an unknown outbreak of _primal_.

Nick squinted at the screen as multiple videos began opening without his interaction at all, it was like picture in picture in picture as multiple angles and feeds from different news stations began assaulting the monitor before his very eyes.  
"What is even happening here?" He wrinkled his brow, holding Judy with both paws now, reading off the ticker at the bottom of each broad cast. He wasn't able to hear the feeds however but he could see all that was being reported.

Some networks reported this as, _Savage 2.0._ Some networks were calling it a terrorist attack. Other networks were being ethical and reporting it as an incident that resulted in an unknown amount of casualties, but all of them were aware that the situation had occurred. Usually the ZPD is better about public relations, since they were able to sweep that poor badger off the street in a matter of a few minutes but this, this was major.

Although what was also strange was, why were all these feeds being piped through ZAIRD terminals. Before Nick could ask the question out loud to himself, a familiar voice began broadcasting.

"Officers, we have a media crisis on our paws and claws." The stern, mature voice began.  
"Alexandria." Nick growled lightly, knowing her voice by ear at this point.  
"Unfortunately a press blackout was unable to take effect in time, and the media has gotten wind of the Primal outbreak. The ZPD officers in detainment were exposed to the outbreak, and unfortunately one of them has been confirmed a positive carrier. We know the procedure and the ZPD chief commanding officer will be forced to understand protocol upon termination of the subject. But more importantly..."

"More importantly?!" Nick's heart nearly stopped beating as he repeated her words. The last phrase wasn't actually even the important part, it was that one of them... was infected. He thought about himself, he thought about himself long and hard... He didn't recall being bitten, hit or even spit on... How could he?

"Is it air born?" He thought out loud, "Could... could it only be targeting predators?" His heart, which had stopped for a moment, was now beating faster than Judy's. He turned to look at the bunny resting in his arms, with that same cold chill shooting down his spine. "Could... you?" He shook his head, distancing himself from the thought.

It was at that point that his ears began to hear what was being said over the terminal again.  
"...reason to believe that the outbreak was only one of many potential dangerous instances, perpetrated by rogue agents. ZAIRD is not above defection, nor are other organizations. As we speak a government wide investigation is being conducted by the ZID on all law enforcement and government agencies with access to chemical weapons, compounds and instruments. Meaning that we will need to be on full alert with the director of the ZAIRD visits the base within three days time." Alexandria was explaining things like she was talking off the cuff instead of off a script. She wasn't choppy like Judy was in front of a camera, but she certainly wasn't as professional or wooden as Nick would assume a woman of her position would sound like.

"The officers of the ZPD will be released and terminated according to protocol, and the base will then remain on lock down for the remainder of the investigation. If there are any loved ones that need to be consoled in this time of need for Zootopia, submit applications for leave to my desk before 0700 hours today. That gives you four hours officers. At ease." There was then the sound of shuffling following her break-only for her to cut back into the feed.

"Officer Short Tail and Sergeant Nett, please apprehend the ZPD and bring them to discharge, and prep the infected officer for termination. And please, keep it professional. Dismissed." The feed then cut, returning the mild over bearing tones of multiple news broadcasts playing at once.

Nick was terrified as he slowly began backing away from the terminal as the news feeds slowly began cutting out one, by one, by one.

"This is not good." He swallowed hard, turning to check behind him to make sure no one was approaching. He knew they were good at sneaking away, so they were probably twice as good as sneaking up on animals. He wasn't certain which of them were infected, either Judy or himself but he couldn't let them have Judy, and he wasn't going to be separated from her again, especially not like this.

"It's only been like... two weeks, bunny." Nick began muttering as his eyes darted left to right, looking for a way out. "Two weeks and I already know I can't live my life without you."  
Judy didn't respond, she was comfortably strapped to his chest and wasn't budging for the world. Nick's ears were rattling in every direction like an earth quake was happening. He could now hear footsteps of ZAIRD officers approaching from the hall way. It was loud, it was heavy and it was fast-they were running, and with a purpose. Was it to kill him? Was it to kill Judy? He didn't care, he needed to get out of there and fast.

Nick looked left and right again, not sure what he could do to escape. He'd been locked in, all that garbage about there being food and supplies was a load of horse shit, as he didn't have access to any of it-and animals just left you there anyhow, to fend for yourself. His blood shot eyes scanned the floor and the ceiling for any manner of an escape-when it finally hit him.

He paused, staring straight into, what appeared to be, an open hole... just... in the ceiling. It looked like a manhole cover, just on the roof and not the floor. Like a giant silver pipe just asking him to scurry into it... and he did.

"I don't know why it's here." Nick gasped and crouched, "But I'm taking it!" The fox exerted every ounce of muscle in his body as he pushed upwards, diving into the pipe above his head like he was a plumber and pipe diving paid the bills. He and Judy vanished whole and he wasted no time in using his night vision to guide himself, and his bunny, through the network of dirty piping.

He could tell, while crawling, that this was practically the ZAIRD's answer to a ventilation shaft. It was heavier than you would expect a vent to be. It was wider than you would expect a vent to be, and it was certainly wasn't as clean as you would expect to be, but all these qualifications actually made it the perfect escape plan and Nick's only way to keep the ZAIRD from executing one of them.

As he scurried on, he could just barely make out the faint voices of a large ZRD bunny grumbling and calling out after them.

"Heeey? Heeeeeeey? Where'd you guys get off to? Come ooooooout! Come oooooooooout!


	4. Chapter 4

This was a sad day.

Police Chief Bogo sat at his desk, holding his head in his hands. He was covering his eyes from everything around him. Everything needed to be hidden, if only for a moment. He was a strong man, mentally, physically, and emotionally but no one could have prepared for what he was now responsible for. A single tear managed to pierce his fingers and slide down his faded navy fur and land on his desk, scattering as it collided with one of the many manila folders that covered his work space.

Autopsy reports and officer discharge reports with death certificates.

Twenty folders in total were scattered across the flat surface which was normally just piled with criminal complaints after an arrest, or commendations and thanks from civilians that were rescued by ZPD interference during a crime, but now...

The Chief slowly peeled his cloven hands away from his face to take in the full weight of his position. Each folder that lay before him in his decorated, but empty, office was accompanied with by a photo of the deceased individual. Bogo inwardly cursed the task, but thanked the ZRD for doing their jobs quickly, and professionally. Bogo inwardly cursed his job, but he thanked the ZRD for cleaning up afterwards, sparing his own officers the mental stress of seeing so many corpses, especially of their comrades. Bogo inwardly cursed the terrorists that perpetrated this crime... then he outwardly cursed them.

"Those... disgusting sons of bitches..." Bogo's voice broke for a moment as he centered his vision on his desk, again looking over all the files before him. They were in two tones, manila with a red stripe, indicating a civilian casualty, and manila with a blue stripe, indicating a police casualty. Sadly there were fifteen civilian folders, and five officer folders. In only the matter of a few hours, Bogo had managed to lose fifteen civilians and five officers... one was injured but in such condition that she wouldn't see the beat again for months. His rage was boiling in his blood right along with his sorrow. It was impossible to make heads or tails of what actually happened aside from his officers being out numbered and taken by surprise. It was easily the largest disaster that befell his station since its inception... and he was the sole animal that had to announce this tragedy to the public.

Mayor LionHeart wasn't answering his phone, so an officer was dispatched to his manor, but they have yet to return or call. Otherwise the Mayor would be responsible for delivering the news. Bogo wanted desperately to pass off such a blood stained torch to the Mayor, but he knew that would be a cowards way to avoid such a serious matter and he couldn't do that, not to his officers and not to those unfortunate civilians that he let down. On top of that, the police department would be responsible for handling the funerals for the officers, and families needed to be informed of the tragic loss of life. At least there was... one survivor, and that kept Bogo from breaking down entirely. Even strong men could cry, but he had to hold it together, for his station. Otherwise he would drop to his knees and weep, because a small part of him really wanted to.

"Well..." Bogo inhaled deeply, lifting the stack of officer reports. "My ... officers, I'm truly sorry." He whispered and begun his task of honoring the deceased. It was half past five in the morning, and there was so much to be done.

"Officer Wendy Perez." Bogo opened her dossier, reading the report forwarded from the ZRD. She died of puncture wounds to the throat, skull, ribs, arms and... well, everywhere. Wendy Perez was a hyena, a short woman of about four and a half feet or so, just slightly taller than Nick Wilde. She was a mother of one, and a wife, and she was taken down by larger predators. She didn't stand a chance. Bogo's spirit fell.  
"Officer Douglas Mercer." He opened the next dossier. Douglas was a German Sheppard, and been on the force for at least three years working the third shift. He was the commanding officer on scene and more than likely the first to be taken down. The dossier revealed that he died from a concussion and multiple puncture wounds to the throat and lungs. At least his passing was painless. He was single man, that slept with more women than he solved cases. The night life just lost a valuable member of the undergrowth both on and off duty. Bogo's spirit fell.  
"Officer William Barker." Another canine, a husky. He used to live in Tundra Town before he moved to Downtown to work as an officer nine months ago. He was still a boy in his twenties living with his parents while paying off his college loans. He, according to the locker room, was still a virgin and was waiting for the perfect woman to sweep _him_ off his feet. If only it had happened sooner. The dossier revealed that he'd perished the same way, puncture wounds on 40% of his body, causing him to bleed out and suffocate from asphyxiation. Bogo's spirit fell.  
"Officer Linda Wayne." A black panthress that had transferred to ZPD from a small town police department from far north. She was on the force for roughly one year before this event. She was mean, cold, and rude to everyone that approached her from the rear or sides-but she was the sweetest woman to other women and Chief Bogo. He assumed that she, a grandmother at age 45, would have already had plenty of prospects but she never seemed to mind spending time with the Chief. She never made a pass at him, nor did he at her-it would have been unprofessional, but now... Bogo felt he should have said... something. Anything. Anything would have been better than, ' _Goodbye'_. She died in a similar fashion. Mangled and full of animal holes in her throat and lungs. Bogo's spirit fell.  
"Officer Pogo Pumba." Chief Bogo sighed heavily, opening this particular dossier. Pogo was quite literally the ClawHauser of the night crew, just a bit stinkier at times and more open about his sexual orientation. He was a boar and a great officer and a very friendly face to greet whenever you returned from a long shift, or arrived to start your new shift before the changing of the guard... He shouldn't have been anywhere near that crime scene before it was properly scouted out, and now... He was at peace with the rest of his fellow officers. He was single, but had one friend that he lived with mutually. Delivering that piece of news was going to be very sad. His death was the worst. He'd been mauled, in addition to being assaulted with puncture wounds across his body. He suffered from crushed ribs, a crushed pelvis, a skull fracture and one of his eyeballs couldn't be recovered from the scene... It would be a closed casket for him. Bogo's spirit fell.

His hands were shaking as he set down the small stack on top of the scattered civilian files. Looking at those would take some courage, more courage than Bogo had after seeing so many terrible reports. He decided to stand, perhaps the elevation and mobility would calm his spirit a little, that or shake it up so much he would explode into nervous vomiting. Bogo's eyes turned to his cell phone that was lying on his desk directly next to his land line phone. He was expecting to hear back from the ZRD soon, good news concerning Nick, Judy and the wounded Zebra, Paige Anderson, would make him feel infinitely better-but there was no ringing.

Bogo stepped away from his chair, kicking into his riot gear that he'd laid askew on the floor. When he was given the stack of reports, he'd completely forgotten to put his riot gear away. He was so distraught that he just tore it off and threw it to the floor without a second thought. Unfortunately, he was still too distraught to pick it up and instead approached his office door-seeing a figure standing there through the smoked glass.

"..." At first Bogo didn't say anything, and observed the figure's skewed figure through the waved glass. It was a short man, not too short, but obviously much shorter than him, and he was holding perfectly still as if he were planning on doing something but noticed Bogo before Bogo noticed him. The Chief wasn't in the mood for games, and slowly placed a paw on the revolver resting on his hip and undid it's safety clip. With all that he'd seen today, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility and probability for someone to have come after him... but for what reason he couldn't determine.

"Who's there?" Bogo called out, more nervously than he ever planned to.  
"Chief." The Asian accent was deeply apparent even through the glass. "You sound nervous, you're not holding your gun are you?"  
"Detective Luis?" Chief Bogo re-clipped his weapon and approached the door, throwing it open to see the red panda detective before him, looking like he hadn't had a single wink of sleep... just like everyone else.

"Luis." The Chief's shoulder slumped-with relief.  
"Good to see you too Chief, may I... enter?" The red panda gestured, and the Chief stepped aside, allowing the detective entry.

"Wow." The Detective commented as he made a quick reference of the entire office. "Nice office. It's much bigger than I remember."  
"The other desk is gone." Chief Bogo responded as he rounded past Luis and returned to his chair on his side of the desk while Luis sat at the guest chair in front of him, where Judy and Nick had been so many times before in the past week.

"Ah," Luis nodded. "I see, I see. What happened?"  
"She resigned." Bogo quickly answered, refusing to go into details. "What can I help you with, Detective?"  
"To the point huh?" Luis rose a brow, retaining the same unhappy frown that Bogo had.  
"Please." Bogo snorted.  
"Very well." Luis dove a paw into his coat and threw a weapon down on Bogo's desk.

Chief Bogo's eyes opened wide as the firearm that hit his desk was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was massive, not size wise, it was built for medium medium-tall animals, but the barrel was long, the grip was curved and sculpted from, what had to be, ivory. The revolver cylinder chamber was wide and polished and the hammer looked more polished and powerful than a reward trophy shelf. The trigger guard was outfitted with a claw and the muzzle was affixed with appeared to be a sharpened tusk or fang from some unknown animal. The handgun was clearly a revolver but the exquisite build and extreme precision sculpting of every individual facet of the weapon made the tool the Detective just put down appear as if it alone was worth two, no three thousand dollars. It was all topped off with a black chrome finish that made it look like it was dipped in tranquil space before it was polished and sold.

"What in the hell is this thing?" Bogo asked, effectively distracted. "Where did you find it?! This can't be legal, not even for law enforcement or special ops!"  
"Yeah, it's not legal." Luis exhaled, and pulled another object out of his coat... A pack of cigarettes. "Do you mind?"  
"For you... no, I don't mind." Bogo flipped a switch under his desk, and a window fan began to spin to pipe out Luis' cigarette smoke as he quickly lit up. "So... where did you discover this super model?" Bogo lifted the weapon and checked to see if it was loaded... thankfully it wasn't.

"Believe it or not," Luis exhaled a cloud of smoke. "I wrestled it off some teenage bear punk that's sitting in holding right now. He was attempting to rob a cigarette machine, and pulled this out and took a shot."  
"What?!" Bogo shouted, "He opened fire?! What a lunatic!"  
"Yeah, really." Luis nodded, taking a long drag off his smoke. "Thing is... the kid is about nineteen, not really too much older than the rookies here sometimes, and our rookies can barely fire a .38 without recoiling in fear the first time."  
"So what are you saying? He hit himself?" Bogo questioned, looking over the weapon in every direction possible, noticing something odd about it.  
Luis nodded, "Yep, cracked himself in the face as soon as he took a shot. Good thing too, the rounds in that thing are .357's and would almost guarantee to put a hole in a car door, and make the Rhino's in Plate Metal fart back their lunch. To think of what it would do to my jacket."  
"Or your flesh." Bogo almost cracked a smile. "So what did the punk say?"  
"Well when he woke up, he said he bought it-but couldn't say who from."

Bogo frowned, "Why not?"  
Luis shook his head and exhaled another cloud of sweet tobacco. "He said he didn't know the guy's name, just that he was selling weapons... cheap."  
Chief Bogo froze in his chair, " _Selling_ weapons!? Cheap?!"  
"Yep." Luis nodded. "Seems we have some illegal arms dealing going on somewhere in Zootopia, and you know that's bad for everybody that's good."  
Bogo held his head in his hands. "This is terrible news... I mean, I appreciate that you brought it up but-"

Luis exhaled more smoke, "I know it's bad Bogo, that's why I came to you directly. This will affect anybody with a badge and we need to shut it down as soon as possible."  
"Luis..." Bogo groaned, "You're an amazing detective and were one of my finest officers... But right now with the savage animal situation, I don't think I could spare anyone right now. Not even my two star players are up for a round."

"The... Rabbit and Fox?" Luis questioned while inhaling the last ounce of smoke from his cig.  
"Them, yes. Officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde respectively. They stopped-"  
"BellWeather, and LionHeart... They were also responsible for stopping the street racing last week, that bank robbery two days ago, and are responsible for a house fire earlier this morning."

"...What?" Bogo rose a brow.  
"I learn things." Luis smiled-then frowned. "But I'm not here to ask for help Chief, I'm just here to keep you posted. Just... if you get any calls about any more violent crimes, like robberies or shootings... Get the sniper units, or call ZAIRD."  
"The ZAIRD are who I'm waiting to hear back from now."  
"...Anderson?" Luis asked blindly.  
"...yes." Bogo answered, holding his head down. "She was in extremely terrible condition when the ZRD pulled her out, hopefully they can save her."  
"They are known to do that..." Luis sighed, "They're also known to execute as well."  
"Excuse me?" Bogo nearly slammed his cloven hands on his own desk. "Why would they do that?!"  
"Because they're Tier 1 Operators. Black Ops. They're the guys that get sent in _before_ people even know there is a problem. They operate by their own protocol and don't take chances. Here's just hoping that Wilde and Hopps don't get into trouble in their base..."  
Bogo shook his head, "Why would they do anything to my officers?! I specifically requested to be informed if anything were to-" Bogo didn't get to finish his sentence as his land line phone began ringing. He turned to his phone seeing it ringing, and his cell phone began chiming as well, indicating it was six in the morning. Work was starting.

"It appears work has begun." Luis pushed himself out of his chair and leaned forward to pat Bogo on his giant shoulders. "You know my number if you need me."  
"Where will you be?" Bogo glanced up as he shut off his cell phone.  
"I'm going to keep the illegal firearms off the streets, and help the ZPD any way I can... you know, in my own way."  
"What about this thing?" Bogo pointed to the gaudy space revolver that was still on his desk.  
"It's evidence, file it with the punk in holding." Luis then waved a paw and closed Bogo's door-dismissing himself.

Chief Bogo was now left alone again. His eyes shifted to the land line phone and inhaled deeply, then pulled it off the receiver.

"Chief Bogo." He began.  
"Bogo." A mature voice kissed his ears. "Alexandria."  
"Yes, yes, I've been expecting your call." Bogo cleared his throat, feeling sweat gathering all over his body. "What can you tell me about my officers."

There was a long... uneasy pause.

"ZPD Officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are..."  
"ARE?!" Bogo shouted unprofessionally. "WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?!"  
"They're missing." Alexandria sighed heavily. "They escaped the facility through our ventilation systems... And are somewhere in the city." Alexandria paused multiple times while explaining.  
"...That's not good. How could they escape? They're my finest officers, but they should be able to be kept in one place for at least a few hours."  
"Incompetence from my unit. I assure you it will never happen again." The vixen's voice grew more stern and malicious by the second.  
"And, Officer Anderson? How is her condition?" Bogo inquired.

There was yet another... long... uneasy... pause.

"Damn it woman!" Bogo cursed loudly, "Tell me what happened to my officers!"  
"Officer Paige Anderson is being recuperated in our facility. Her vitals are positive and we believe she can make a full recovery in only five weeks under our accelerated circumstances."  
"Five weeks?!" Bogo couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could that even be possible. "How can that even be possible?!" He thought it, and said it.  
"We have the best medical researchers in the world, anything is possible for the ZRD." Alexandria told him in a tone that said she was lying. But-right now, Bogo truthfully wanted to believe what she was saying. He couldn't live with hearing that all six of his officers died in the same night, along with fifteen civilians.

"Well," He exhaled. "I'm disappointed that you managed to lose my two finest officers."  
"As am I, chief. I will make it my personal mission to track them down before the day is through." The vixen growled into the phone, although it was clear she wasn't actually growling _at_ Bogo.

"That's a mighty task you know." Bogo commented, "I don't know of many officers that have the ability to track down missing people in only a matter of hours. Or at least, I can say I only know of two officers capable of doing that."  
"I'm a member of ZAIRD, Chief Bogo. I will walk on water if I have to. You will have your officers in eighteen hours." Alexandria suddenly hung up without hesitation, leaving Bogo holding the phone for a moment in light shock.

Where could Judy and Nick have gone? Why would they run? Did it have to do with the savage infestation, or the shady operation of ZAIRD? Bogo couldn't make any concrete assumptions but he only hoped that they were safe, and they were together. He wasn't certain how a fox and a rabbit could possibly care for one another, none the less they way they do. But if Bogo had to accept anything in this world as true, it was that Judy was at her best with Nick, and Nick was at his best with Judy.

Bogo, feeling a lot better, turned his attention back to his desk where the files for his officers, the files for the civilians, and the giant near-murder, weapon lied.  
"What is happening with this town?" He lamented, and set the giant firearm aside as he organized the civilian cases and began going through them one by one. His other officers would be tasked with visiting the homes and reporting the tragedy while he would be tasked with arranging the press conference to announce it all as a whole, Mayor LionHeart was obviously keeping as far from the crisis as possible, therefore the duty rested squarely on Bogo's large-but slumping shoulders.

He pulled the first file from the civilian stack, reading it off. "Bianca Mosley... Death by acute asphyxiation, and extreme trauma after falling from... My god." Bogo's spirit fell.

His land line began to ring again suddenly, nearly scaring him out of his hide. He wasn't expecting another call-but then again, this would probably be one of thousands today. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed the phone-there were only a few people that knew the direct line to his office anyway and none of them would have anything good to say.

"Chief Bogo." He answered.  
"Bogo?! What is going on?!" Mayor LionHeart suddenly filled his ears.  
"Mayor?!" He was shocked, but contained himself, "I hope you're sitting down..."

.

* * *

.

Sunlight hit Judy in the face like a 7am alarm when you were supposed to be at work at 6am. Her vision was blurry for a moment, and she brought her bunny paws up to her eyes to rub them clean. It was windy, and turbulent but the air was crisp and clean. It almost felt like she was flying, since her feet were moving on their own but she was standing perfectly still. With her vision cleared, she removed her paws to see she was in a gondola high above the rain forest district.

Immediately she reached for the hand bars to secure herself.  
"Careful there, Carrots. Don't want you going over the bars or anything." The familiar voice of Nick entered Judy's tall ears. She turned slightly to her left to see him standing there in his typical get up. The long, unironed, untucked green bamboo print button up shirt he wore the first time they met, and his baggy grey jeans, with a purple and pink striped tie. His fashion sense was awful but he was wonderful.

"Nick." Judy sighed with joy, stepping over to hug him tightly around his abs. He leaned back and lifted his paws playfully.  
"Whoa now, let's be careful on the gondola, it's a long drop and Mr. Manches isn't chasing us this time." The red fox chuckled, lowering a paw to pat Judy's head comfortingly. "You bunnies, so emotional."  
"Nick." Judy turned her vision up to his. "How did... how did we ever escape? Why are we here?" Judy stepped away to look down at herself, she was dressed the same way she had been dressed when she met Nick for the first time too. Her trainee ZPD uniform. She had traded in her trainee uniform the moment she got her first promotion. Mind you it still looked the same, but her grade of Kevlar on the new vest was much higher, and the weave in her uniform was stronger and tighter. There was certainly a comfort difference as well not just an agility and defensive difference.

"Ya know," Nick grinned and leaned against the bars looking out at the morning traffic. "Escaping a place like that was next to impossible, especially with a little bunny hanging off of my neck the entire time."  
"Hanging off?" Judy wrinkled her brow. "I... I fell asleep yeah I'm sorry but I would have helped if I-"  
"Hey hey hey-" Nick held up a paw, "Don't worry about it Carrots. You're still a great cop and all, and the best little bunny a guy could ever ask for... But that moment got me thinking."

Judy felt her heart sink. "T-thinking?"  
"Yeah." Nick's saucy expression never changed as he turned to smile at her. "You're holding me back."  
"Holding you bac-what do you mean?" Judy frowned even more.  
"Well, I was the one doing the lifting and carrying. I was the one who had to figure out how to break in, and how to get out-it wasn't easy Officer Cotton Tail."  
"Nick I-I fell asleep. I was exhausted! We both were!" She knew that was no good excuse. "I-I'm sorry. All you had to do was wake me up! I promise I would have helped!"

The fox's grin remained, even as he shook his head in disapproval. "Look bunny. There's a lot of things that I could have done differently and a lot of things that probably should have happened differently. But there's no way that situation would have came out in our favor... Or at least, not without someone watching my back."

Judy felt a tear welling up in her eye, but also a fire in her heart. "But I AM watching your back!" Judy shouted. "Nick! I am your partner! We live together! We sleep in the same bed! We've had s-"  
Nick snapped his fingers to cut her off. "Hey!" He snorted, "There's no need to shout Officer. Look-you got what you wanted out of our time together, and I got what I wanted..."  
Judy folded her arms over her chest. "What...? Sex and a place to stay?! Is that what you're saying? That's what you wanted!?"  
"Yes, absolutely." Nick nodded with a smile.  
Judy was speechless, "How... how could you be... You're insane." She declared, not certain if her upcoming vomit would be disgust or heart break.  
"Am I?" Nick rolled his eyes, "You know none of those ZPD guys really liked the way we handled ourselves back there. They only called us in because we make their jobs easier. You know that." Nick turned his head away from Judy, looking ahead now instead of at her.

"That's not true!" Judy began to angrily growl at the fox. "We might be the best they have... I mean, even I hate saying it, but we all still work as a team! We can't be expected to accomplish everything the ZPD and criminals throw at us!"  
"But we do..." Nick didn't even turn his head, "We _always_ do. We're the best because we worked as a team, well now I realize that I don't need a team, or at least not one with a bunny."  
"...with a..." Judy began to repeat him, but paused as she watched Nick's ears perk up, a smile grip his face and he leaned forward to wave a happy wave at someone further up on the landing platform.

Judy hardly made a noise as Nick turned to slowly usher her out of the gondola as it slowly pulled itself up to docking, where a woman was waiting. The bunny's ears fell as she was pushed out of the cart, and ZRD Captain Alexandria stepped in. She was dressed like gazelle... in a long black, reflective rhinestone dress that barely covered her chest, showing off plenty of cleavage and the back of the dress was nearly completely missing. It even had a long tail that felt like thousands of dollars as it gently brushed past Judy's footpaws.

"It's been great Carrots!" Nick called out to her as she turned to slowly see the two foxes drifting away. "But I can't expect to get anywhere in my life with the ZPD, _OR_ a bunny!"  
The bunny shivered in place, watching her best friend, her only friend, the love of her life drifting away with the horrible woman that arrested them for doing a good job.

"NICK!" Judy screamed. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"  
Alexandria turned her burning pink eyes to Judy with a villainous smile and shouted, "He already has little bunny. He's with his own kind. Isn't that right, handsome." She turned to suddenly kiss Nick and push him to the floor of the gondola, and that's all the Judy could see.

The gondola began to rock violently as it slowly ripped itself from her vision, fading away in the distance of an infinite skyline... forever trailing off, just out of reach but always within view. Judy's fist curled into a ball, tightly gripping her own fingers. She squeezed so hard a tiny trail of blood began to leak past her small bunny nails... but it didn't hurt. Or at least not nearly as much as the gaping wound in her chest where her heart was. Because Nick had tore it out.

"Hey!" A voice shouted from behind her, prompting Judy to turn as another fox approached her. This time it was the little guy, Nick's ' _son'_ Fennick. "You're blocking the tram lady!"  
"I-I..." Judy couldn't even formulate words at the moment, as a single long tear coursed down her cheek.  
"What's the matter? Lose your fox boyfriend?" The tiny fennec fox began laughing loudly. His voice was clearly in betrayal of his size. "Foxes have always been loners lady, and even if they were to pick friends, it would be with their own kind aiight? Not with some bunny cop! Now get ya ass outta my way, I got business!" He demanded, raising a paw like he was going to backhand her.

"I... no...I..." Judy coughed out. "Nick was... he is... he..."  
"HE IS A FOX!" The small fennec blurted. "OUTTA MY WAY BITCH!" He then shoved Judy, sending her flying off the platform with unrealistic force. Judy began screaming as the multiple canopies of the Rain Forest district shot past her vision as she descended, passively telling her she was growing closer and closer to terminal velocity.

How?

How could things have happened this way?!

As she fell, the only thing that came to Judy's mind was her best friend... her lost love. Nick Wilde, and all she could do was scream.

.

* * *

.

"HEY!" That voice shouted again, throttling Judy awake from her apparent night terror.  
"W-what what?! Huh?! What?!" She spun her head in a hundred different directions, doing a near quadruple take in front of the small fennec fox who was sitting only inches away from her. She was so glad that nightmare was just a dream and that Nick hadn't run away with... Captain Alexandria.

"Calm down bunny." The fennec frowned, seeing the bunny in an impressively hostile and unpredictable state. He was wearing his large sunglasses that concealed virtually everything the glass touched, so all she could see was his unwavering frown, and the small wooden popsicle stick wedged in his jaws with a tiny tinge of red, past his lips, apparent on the stick to indicate that he'd recently had an ice pop.

"Where am I?" Judy began looking around to see where exactly she was-noticing that she was in the cramped red interior of a vehicle.  
"In my van." The fennec answered quickly. "Nick... Haha boy, Nick. Is sometin else, I'll tell you that. That boy is SERIOUS when it comes to handlin' business."  
"What do you mean?" Judy's eyes fell on Nick who was lying beside her. He... looked like hell. Still wearing dirty prison orange, his fur was matted with dirt, he had tiny cuts all over his face and his exposed paws were covered in tiny bandages and gauze, like he'd been in a street brawl only recently. What she could see of his paws can claws however, is that they were mangled... broken... like he'd been forced to use his hands to do some detailed and dirty work, pushing his fingers nearly to the bone.

"Well-!" Fennick began explaining while Judy examined the unconscious fox next to her. "How about dude calls me up from a public phone. And he's all like ' _NIK! You gotta help me man. I'm in trouble, and I need to lay low for a while'._ And I'm all like _'Vulpa please, you betta come correct if you think I'm about to stick my neck out for yo ass-AGAIN. Aint you a cop now? Aint got time for the homies no more.'_ And he's like ' _It's not like that man, I just need some help, serious help, right now.'_ And I'm not one to turn away fam, but dude can't expect me to operate as a charity... So I'm like ' _Nick. Where the paper at? My van don't run on helping hands and short plans.'_ But ol dude..." Fennick clapped his paws together in glee. "Yo, check this."

Judy's ears rose as Fennick began tapping something soft and solid sounding. Judy turned to see exactly what he had in his hand, horrified to see a _leather_ brief case in Fennick's paws.  
"IS THAT?!" Judy gasped in pure shock.  
"Yeaaa, heh heh." The fennec laughed, "Genuine Ox Leather. This shit aint easy to come by. This here is genuine article."  
"H-how." Judy frowned, not understanding the story at all and still examining Nick for all his injuries, which thankfully weren't life threatening.  
"Well you remember ol boy's story like, a week ago? 200 a day? 365 a year? Since he was 12? Yea, that shit was legit as hell too. But it was 200 on a slow day. Me, Nick, and Nikki could work a good lick in the trap, scoring a 'G' a day, just workin that hustle."  
"...Hustling? He bought that hustling?!" Judy frowned heavily.  
"Nah not even." Fennick laughed, "Thing is, me and Nick used to work together back at Chez' Cheez. Yeah, don't ask how we pulled a gig in Little Rodentia, but Nick, being the hustlin ass playa that he is-"  
"Player?" Judy interrupted/paused again.  
"Sho-nuff. Nick had girls on girls on girls when we was makin' that big money. But listen-When me, Nick and Nikki was workin' the streets... Animals didn't know where to even PUT their money if it wasn't going into our pockets. I'd work as their kid sometimes, other times I'd be just one of their kids in a domestic dispute kind of case. Sometimes we were just one big ass happy family, you know-with the books and the homework n shit."

"... You... Were... a family...?" Judy's heart began to sink again. Was Nick hiding something from her? "And who is _Nikki_?"  
"I'll let you in on that in minute. Point is... This briefcase, it's Nick's father's briefcase. His old man used to be a tailor before the lord took him, like the good lord takes us all, god rest his soul."  
"...His father?" Judy's eyes fell to Nick. He'd never actually gone into his past before, they were only really together for a week... She couldn't have expected him to go into details so soon, even though some things they've done together have been...

"Yeah." Fennick nodded, "Dude was an orphan. Father died and the business closed down on the account that a 12 year old obviously couldn't run a damn business. But the business was left for Nick when he got old enough, so it's run down as shit, but it's there for him if he wanted it."  
"So... why didn't he become a tailor?" Judy inquired, full of doubt and bewilderment.  
"Because-when you're hustlin' a G a day, you don't trade that shit in for making suits." Fennick laughed, then paused as he set the briefcase down, and picked up a small box of food, handing it back to Judy. "He wanted you to have this."  
"This?" Judy repeated and opened the box, revealing a startlingly fresh tossed salad from 'The Dunes'. It was in Sahara Square and they served, probably, the best salads anyone could dare to get, even fish salads for predators were good."  
"This is... for me? Nick asked you to get it?" Judy was hesitant to ask how he got money when the ZRD were in possession of all their belongings, or ... how all this came to pass, but she had to. "What's going on here?"

Fennick rolled his eyes, "Alright, I suppose I was bein a big... vague, but as you say we foxes are so _'Articulate'_." He then began to laugh again as Judy's ears fell backwards. In the pit of her stomach-she really did feel like a heel for saying that straight to Nick's face. It was a heartless thing to say, even though it was an accident.

"I'm so sorry about that comment." Judy meekly apologized. "I... I shouldn't have said that, it was crude and offensive."  
"Psh, we say shit like that to each other all the time." Fennick couldn't help his deep, persistent laughter. You would think Nick would be summoned to the world of the living with all that deep bellowing but he remained unconscious. "But for real, to make the long story short... Nick called me, told me he needed help, and I said I wouldn't help without gettin' paid. So, instead of doing the smart thing and offering ya boy a few hundred. He straight up gave me _everything_."

"Everything?" Judy blinked, lifting a fork full of the salad into her mouth. "What do you mean?"  
"I mean _everything_. He gave me the suitcase, his shop, and pretty much all the money he had been storing all this time, which he kept... _in_ the suit case." Fennick snickered, "Dude gave me four thousand dollars. Just to protect you."  
"Protect me?!" Judy nearly choked on the delicious salad as she gasped in shock. "Four th-"  
"Right?!" Fennick turned to lean back in the driver's seat of his van. "Yep. Four G's, and well... I had to buy a salad and some bread sticks n shit, but yeah-he did it all for you. Said that he'd trade it all for my protection and loyalty. Shit, I thought that was a good deal."  
"For me." Judy repeated after Fennick.  
"Sho nuff." Judy could just make out Fennick's grin in the rear view mirror. "I think I can safely say that you and him... are like this." He then held up his paws, twisting his fingers as though he were breaking a promise.

"..." Judy didn't know what that meant, but she assumed it was good. "Why would he give you his shop and that... animal skin suitcase?"  
"Because they're worth so much and..." Fennick sighed heavily. "When I saw what was going down, I was going to just leave his ass. Yours too as a matter of fact, I don't need no goddamn ZRD up _my_ ass."  
"The ZRD are still after us!?" Judy exclaimed.  
"Probably, hell if I know. I peeled the fuck outta there when I saw their goddamn helicoptor over head and Nick nearly pissin' himself. He aint even wanna tell me what was up until I pulled the van up in front of his ass and refused to unlock the doors. Dude made me the offer, and shit, I can't refuse money, especially not _THAT_ much money."

"...I..." Judy swallowed, then bit into her salad again, swallowing that too. She turned to Nick, who looked less at peace now than he did a moment ago, but under the makeshift quilt that was covering the two of them, she could feel his tail wrapped around her abdomen. Nick really put up that much just to keep her safe.

"Look, if it's all the same with you. Nick is my homeboy and all, but I'm not about to get a bullet in my brain just because he wanted to keep you out of government custody. I saw that shit on the news this morning and ... fuck... that's some gruesome shit."  
"The news?" Judy hadn't any memory of anything that involved the news.  
"You don't know!? Oh wait-you were sleepin like a baby bunny at the time. Here, check that glove compartment." He pointed at the glove compartment in front of the passenger's seat.

Part of Judy didn't want to get up and leave Nick, not even by a few inches, but the other part of her desperately wanted to know what was going on in the city. She wolfed down the last three mouthfuls of salad, receiving a gratifying bulge in her belly, then leaned over to kiss Nick's cheek before she crawled from under the quilt and up into the passenger's seat to open the glove compartment.

And nearly as expected, about ten phones, two pagers, three black berries, four handheld game systems from two different companies, a tablet, and a long black fox shaped dildo came spiraling out of the glove box and into Judy's awaiting lap. The shaft nearly hitting her in the face as it was forced around by the other electronic devices.

"W-what the?! Aaaah!" Judy gasped, leaning as far away from the sex toy as she possibly could.  
"Oh, my bad." Fennick chuckled and leaned far over to Judy to start throwing things back in the glove box. "Don't act like you aint never seen one before."  
"I-" Judy paused, and redirected the subject. "Why do you have so many devices?!"  
"So the feds can't tap our phones..." Fennick said with a stern glare on his face, which was only made more stern by the fact that he was so small, had giant ears, and was still wearing the highway cop shades.

"..." Judy didn't comment on that either, as Fennick threw all the devices back in the glove compartment, leaving her with a tablet in her paws.  
"Why did you have _that_ up here anyway? Shouldn't that be in a spank bank?" Judy didn't want to acknowledge it by name, but couldn't figure why it was paired with all the other electronic devices.  
"Firstly. It's my van. Secondly, it's for hoes. Third, it vibrates. And fourth, I can control it with my phone. You can't imagine how wet a bitch gets sitting in the passenger's seat. I'm bumpin' bass like a tank, and got money floatin' in their lap... Why you think I drive a van?"  
Judy was speechless not sure if she should answer.  
"Fret not though bunny cop. The mattress where I smash was thrown out, and that quilt was Nikki's. Nobody uses that, except you know-you two. Nick is my homeboy, like a brother from another mother, and you... well can't nobody hate on you for what you done did for this fine ass city. Or at least no one can hate on you easily."

"T-thanks." Judy still didn't know how to answer completely. This was the first time she'd spent any real time with another fox, and since Alexandria seemed to be such a cold woman, she didn't know if blanketed hostility towards bunnies was a fox thing or just a _vixen_ thing. But without wasting any more time, Judy attempted to power on the tablet by pressing the button on it's top.

"It's dead." She told him, Fennick swore under his breath.  
"Shit," He then swore out loud. "Aint shit. Here." He leaned forward to pick up a black coiled cable that was connected to the cigarette lighter. "Plug that in."

"Thanks." She nodded and made the connection, the tablet slowly started to power on.  
"Aint no thang." Fennick nodded, leaning forward again to start the engine of the van.

While Judy waited for the tablet to power up, she turned to look out the window to see exactly where she was. Looking right she could see they were in Sahara Square right outside of a condemned hotel. There were camel, giraffe and elephant workers wandering around outside of it with buckets, power tools, and scaffolding in their hands usually setting things down and going back inside. They were clearly in an alley so when she turned to look up the street to see nothing but a short road that lead to the main road this service alley was connected to. Looking to her left just displayed the rear service entrances to other businesses and nothing more. So now that the sights had been taken in she decided to ask a nagging question.

"Who's Nikki?" Judy inquired as Fennick pulled forward.  
"She was our partner." Fennick didn't answer with glee in his tone, not like he had before.  
" _Was?_ " The bunny pried further.  
"Yeah... Was..." Fennick didn't offer any more than that.  
"Did... something happen to her?" Judy, however, continued to pry.  
"Yeah..." Fennick didn't offer any more than that.  
"...What was it?" Judy hesitated before asking again.  
"ZAIRD happened to her." Fennick didn't offer any more than that.  
"..." Judy stopped asking any further, even though she wanted to know more. What was their hustle exactly? How far did they take it? Were they living together at some point like her and Nick were? Did Nikki and Nick date? Were Nikki and Nick lovers?

Fennick pulled out into traffic, scanning the road cautiously as he began driving. "Look, all you need to know is... _Don't_ ask Nick, about Nikki. Nick, Nick and Nikki are dead, and our hustle died along with her."  
"She's...?" Judy was going to follow up, but Fennick shot her a very scary look past his dark tinted glasses. Instead of asking any more, she swiped to the video app _'A-Tube'_ , and searched for 'News 2016' _..._ instantly getting over seven hundred results...

"What the hell?" Judy gasped, tapping a video with over nine million views titled, 'ZOOTOPIA TERRORIST ATTACK 20 DEAD W/ CHIEF BOGO INTERVIEW #WTF #2016'.  
"Fuck up shit right?" Fennick sighed. "According to the broadcast, twenty animals died last night, and the only people involved that walked away alive were you, and Nick."  
"W-what?!" Judy shook her head, "All those animals..." She had known that a lot of the animals had unfortunately died, but not _all_ of them. The ZRD Captain clearly shot and killed a man right in front of her, and she saw multiple dead officers and savage animals but... no one lived? No one? Not even the Zebra?

Fennick pulled through Sahara Square as Judy listened to the news report. He leaned behind him to find a long white, not entirely clean, t-shirt and passed it to Judy. "Here, put this on."  
"W-why?" Judy began to ask, but Fennick just pointed at her clothes.  
"Because prison orange with blood stains, aint what's hot in the streets right now, and wear these..." He reached above his head to pull another pair of shades out and passed them to her. Without asking any further questions, Judy slipped on the shirt and put on the glasses.

"Am I on a watch list or something?" Judy asked nervously as she adjusted her glasses and peeled her ears down to slide into the large white, funny smelling, shirt.  
"I can't be too sure about that, but better safe than fuckin' dead, right?" Fennick gave a half grin as he pulled onto the highway.  
"Where are we going?" Judy inquired, as she turned back to look at Nick, who was still in his spot-unmoving, slightly shifting when the car would accelerate, decelerate or shift lanes.  
"I got to meet up with a connect in Tundra Town. If shits goin down, which I'm pretty sure shit is about to go down, I need to increase my own offensive capabilities. You know what I'm sayin'?"

" . . . no. . . no I don't." Judy paused the video.  
"I'm going to _legally_ purchase some firearms so that I may better protect myself if I discover that I have arrived in a taxing situation beyond normal ethical means. Articulate enough for you?"  
"...I..." Judy sighed, "I understand. But you're buying illegal firearms? Why? Who would do such a thing?"  
"I just said _legal_ did I not?" Fennick frowned.  
"But the _way_ you said it makes it sound _illegal_." Judy leaned towards him, pointing a finger.  
"Look woman, if Nick didn't give me all of his worldly fucking possessions, I would have tossed your ass out of my bang bus by now. So politely, sit down ya ass down , put ya damn seat belt on, shut the fuck up, and let a vulp handle his goddamn business, alright?" Fennick growled at Judy, lowering his glasses to reveal those same fierce, yet passionate, golden eyes he had when he was pretending to be an elephant.

"I'm sorry." Judy sighed as Fennick shifted lanes again.  
"S'all good. Just don't act like a cop for the next few hours, aiight?" Fennick frowned at her again. "I don't need you fuckin up shit."  
Judy nodded, "I'm still a cop but... I'll help you, for helping me. Deal?"  
"The chips are in my hands lady, but hell yea-we got a deal." Fennick then began laughing, and pointed at the tablet, quickly stopping his joyous laughter.

"Now check that horrible shit and educate yourself on the state of this city... Like I said, shits about to go down, and when you see what the news has been sayin... You'll understand why buying another gun or five, is the recommended path. And put your damn seat belt on woman... damn!"

Judy nodded and clipped her seat belt on like she was asked, and unpaused the app... Taking in what was to be, the worst news she'd heard since her dream.

The tall snow leopardess' head was held low and she wasn't making eye contact with the camera for at least six seconds before she began speaking.

 _"Good animals of Zootopia... Today is indeed a dark day. As we speak, Zootopian law enforcement is still cleaning up the gruesome scene that took place last night in the Plastics Multi-Purpose International headquarters last night at around 12:50 am, where twenty animals, including five Zootopia Police Department officers were slain along with Alexander Palladae, the head of the PMPI corporation. We bring you live to Chief Bogo who is now giving an address..."_

The video then shifted to show a tired looking Chief Bogo on stand, surrounded by a pathetic looking ClawHauser, who'd clearly been crying. Mayor LionHeart, who'd clearly just woken up. And six other Zootopia officers. Two rhinos, two horses and two polar bears, who were holding rifles at attention. Before all of them were the portraits of the five fallen ZPD officers and the fifteen framed photos of the civilians who were caught up in the attack. Chief Bogo sighed deeply then began speaking into the thirteen microphones positioned in front of him.

"Fair citizens." He began, "It is with a heavy heart that I announce that today, Zootopia has suffered a great injustice. The lives of twenty good animals had been tragically taken in an incident that we believe, was a deliberate, terrorist attack perpetrated using a modified formula of the Night Howler. There is no official evidence that explains what the virus, plant, or bacteria may be, but we are now certain that an unknown terrorist organization orchestrated the attack on the PMPI headquarters last night around one in the morning. Their reasoning is unclear, and they have made no demands determining why they would do such a thing... And in doing so, they have unfortunately and shamelessly ended the lives of twenty good animals today. Five officers, and fifteen employees of the PMPI head quarters that should have been safe from such an unwarranted event. I, the ZPD along with ZAIRD are working around the clock to track down these terrorists and bring them to justice. Zootopia is a city built by animals, for animals and we will not have our city torn down by animals. We will stand strong, we will aim true and we will strike at the heart of these savage... dangerous... monstrous terrorists if it's the last thing we do. They have taken twenty of our own, well we will take one hundred percent of them and bring them to JUSTICE!"


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I've been informed to leave the rating as is, so... why not. Additionally, I apologize for the lack of updates. I've found myself busier than usual in the past three days, but I've got nothing but ideas for Zootopia and this exact story, so I'm still planning to regularly update. Thanks a ton for sticking with me this far. All the reviews and PM's are very much appreciated. As I stated before, if there are any suggestions or OC's that would like a spot somewhere filling a role, feel free to mention them. I can always use more animals to flesh out an organization._

* * *

Judy found herself shivering, even though the shirt was a bit too large for her, it still wasn't enough to stave off the constant chill from the atmosphere in Tundra Town. The van was icy, clearly not built for Tundra Town even though it took corners like a dream. She was still sitting in the passenger's seat, instead of sitting on top of Nick where she really wanted to be. But she had a good reason to stay up front. She needed to keep a rigid mental note of where Fennick was taking her. On the account that she hadn't actually done very much police work in Tundra Town since she'd been inducted as an officer. Mostly work in Down Town with Nick taking down racers and a bank robber. So knowing the streets was a definite benefit, but to know she was heading directly into a dirty arms deal was what really had her worried. If things got bad, which Fennick said they probably would, she needed to know what route to take, or not to take depending on the situation.

Fennick was already out of the vehicle and was exchanging pleasantries with a group of insanely shady looking animals. A grey timber wolf, with golden eyes, wearing a blue kevlar vest with a white star emblazoned on the chest. It almost looked like a police vest from far away, but the crudely painted star also made it look like raider gear. He was carrying a large oversized machete and some kind of handgun on his hips, it wasn't very large-but it looked dangerous since she had never seen a weapon of its type before. There was also a polar bear wearing a grey track suit, and a sub machine gun hanging off his chest. He very well may be moonlighting with Mr. Big and these gun smugglers. And lastly a short arctic fox, who was dressed like they were in Sahara Square. Wearing a short jacket with the sleeves rolled up and baggy track pants, kind of like the polar bear's own but much smaller to fit. Her firearms weren't obvious, but her hip swagger said that she was just as dangerous as the other two guys. Perhaps her weapons were even tucked into those baggy pants. Fennick on the other hand didn't look even remotely intimidated by the three of them, as a matter of fact he looked amused-but he always looked amused. It could have been that he was used to trading with these animals, but it also could have been that Fennick was also packing heat.

Judy eyed the four animals talking for a little longer before deciding to set the tablet on the dashboard, then turned to crawl into the back to check on Nick.

He was still out of it.

Nick's condition hadn't actually improved, but it was his turn to sleep and Judy was determined to watch over him the entire time just as he did for her. She would have easily preferred having that day off, so that his sleep would have been the byproduct of a rough and wild night full of food, drinks and intimacy. She would have easily preferred having that day off so that Nick and her could actually spend real time together. Holding hands in public, sharing a meal together at a nice restaurant, sitting in the park and watching the sun set, there was so much she wanted to do with him but all of that had been turned on it's head in the last seven hours. There were so many questions now.

Like, what happened that caused the outbreak at the PMPI headquarters? Why are the ZAIRD so suspicious and shady? Aren't they the good guys? How did Nick single handedly escape their building? What even _was_ their building? Who are these people selling weapons illegally? And... who is Nikki?

Judy caught herself stroking Nick's head in her paws. Somehow she had directed herself to sit almost directly under the fox, adjusting his head to rest in her lap while she stroked his dirty fur. He was a mess, the running he'd been doing must have been hard work. Grooming his fur began to reveal a plethora of tiny scratches that decorated the flesh under his normally kempt and smooth red pelt. But they were all relatively fresh. They were too small to be the result of ZAIRD, and too large to be actual fights from his past. She could tell that Fennick had treated them, like he'd apparently treated Nick's paws but-the scratches, all these little cuts and bruising. It made Judy wish that Nick would wake up, just to tell her what had happened.

"How could you do so much for me when we're still so new for each other?" She whispered down to him, resting her head atop of his, gently brushing the sides of his muzzle with hers. "Do you love me like I love you? Will you share everything with me, like I'm willing to share with you?" The bunny cooed down to the unconscious fox, still failing to stir him from his apparent slumber.

"You gave up so much just for me, what could I possibly do to repay you?" Judy didn't get to dwell on it for long, suddenly hearing the rattling of the back door starting to jar open.  
"FUCK!" Fennick swore from outside. "Shits frozen already?!"  
"Dude, Tundra Town pours snow, when you come in from Sahara Square you gotta be ready to chip off some ice." The arctic vixen told Fennick. The back door started to bang and loud scraping echoed inside the body of the van. They were scraping the ice away from the back door, and Judy-while knowing she was in no real danger, decided to cover Nick with the quilt anyway. It may have been that she was worried about Nick's exposure to the blistering cold. Or it may have been that a vixen was getting close when her night terror was still fresh in her mind, she couldn't be certain, but it was time for Nick to vanish.

"Here." A deep Russian-like voice mumbled past Fennick and the arctic vixen. "This door is no problem." The van then jumped forward like it was rear ended by another vehicle, because it practically was. While Fennick's vehicle was a full sized commercial van, that probably weighed no less than 3,500 pounds, an average male polar bear can be anywhere between 650 pounds to 1000 pounds. So while an animal clearly slapped into the back of the van, shoulder first, it was basically the equivalent of being rear ended by a vehicle roughly a third its own size. Nick had to be re-covered and Judy adjusted herself to not look like she was growing a fox tail, right as the rear doors flew open.

As expected, the arctic breeze of tundra town came sweeping into Judy's face, hitting her entire body and making it feel as if she was wearing nothing at all. Only her legs, covered by the quilt, were safe from a temporary flash freezing.

"Oh!" The wolf paused as he lifted a large box with both paws. He hadn't expected to take in the vision of a shivering bunny. "Excuse us ma'am." He spoke in a clean, street wise voice, sort of like Nick's. It was smooth and genuine, not ratty like Weasleton or mobster like the Polar Bear.  
"Pardon deep freeze, little bunny." The polar bear nodded as he too lifted a long case up from the packed snow, although this was with just one had instead of two like the wolf had done.

"Damn girl, Fennick's got you back here just freezing?" The arctic fox spoke while lifting twelve ammo cases on her thin arms. Judy wanted to drop her mouth open in shock seeing this, since she knew ammo was deceptively heavy, but the cold would threaten to freeze her teeth if she even dared to talk, so she nodded and held herself tightly with her exposed arms and shivered.

"Fennick, what the fuck? Give her a real damn coat or something, don't let her just freeze." The arctic fox slid in the ammo cases one after another, while the Wolf and Polar Bear also added their boxes to the payload of the van. After loading the rounds, the vixen began to step in, clearly looking as if she were going to pull the quilt up around the bunny to help-but Fennick cut in before she could do anything obstructive, under the impression there was a reason Nick was hidden.

"OR-" Fennick shouted, "I could close the damn door and let my A/C do it's thing! That van is like a damn paradise, as long as the door is closed and my engine is running!"  
The wolf coughed as the vixen turned to step back out of the van into the smoke cloud that exited from the van's dual exhaust. "Oh yeah, you're definitely running... And it smells awful, what is that? Bio-Diesel?"  
Fennick swung the door shut with a loud slam. Allowing Judy the space to breathe.

"What do I look like to you? A damn environmentalist?!" Fennick complained back at the Wolf, "Besides-I wouldn't bring Diesel out here! My shit would be gelled in ten minutes!"  
"Not true." The polar bear protested. "Plug's keep tank warm, engine cool."  
The wolf laughed loudly with Fennick. "Only if they're parked in a temperature controlled garage, big guy. Anything outside freezes in tundra town if it doesn't keep moving."  
"Right!?" The vixen jumped in next. "And people keep coming in from Sahara Square and the Meadowlands and expect their vehicles to take a corner like it was sixty-five degrees out. Psssh."  
"Sixty five below, maybe." Fennick finished, causing another fit of laughter amongst the group.

The four laughing voices slowly got more faint the further they got from the van, allowing Judy to truly take a breath. Even though she was, probably, one of the most famous bunnies in Zootopia, she still couldn't be positively identified by three predators at close range all because she was wearing large, concealing shades. She felt dejected at the thought that apparently all animals look the same, as if the entire ordeal to help bridge the divide between predator and prey didn't accomplish very much. But like all the trails she'd been through, Judy knew she couldn't let this slight set back hinder her progress. Besides, it wasn't like she _really_ wanted gun smugglers to identify her as Judy Hopps of the ZPD, especially when she was unarmed. She then lowered her arms, genuinely surprised to feel light trappings of frost collecting on her bare forearms and finger fur. Tundra Town truly was an ice hell if you weren't prepared for it.

She slowly uncovered Nick to see if he may have blinked awake during the exchange, but he was still unconscious and thankfully not having his own night terror. The bunny took this opportunity to stroke his fur again, to make him appear more peaceful, then cover him up with the quilt as she rose to examine Fennick's purchases.

"Well then," She muttered to herself while adjusting Nick, ensuring he was comfortable. "I suppose it's my civic duty as an officer to ensure that my friend won't be doing anything _too_ illegal with his purchases... Just in case." The bunny peeled herself away from the fox and stepped towards the long weapons boxes, stepping over the multitude of ammo crates that were lined up in single file. One of the boxes was a long grey weapon case that was made of darkened plastic and lined with ice cold metal. It wore a latch locking clip that had a large black padlock hanging from it. The key was already inserted though, so there was no issue getting inside it. With a twist of the key Judy pulled the lock to reveal what was inside.

Like discovering buried treasure, Judy's eyes lit up behind her shades. Fennick had purchased a long, black, military grade Designated Marksman Rifle. It appeared to be more built for medium sized animals, which was technically too large for Fennick, but Judy wouldn't bring it up with him. It almost reminded Judy of a child's toy with all the accessories lying scattered within the foam casing. A suppressor, two scopes one long one medium, that would affix to the picatinny rail that surrounded the barrel. The stock was detached but appeared adjustable, resting next to a detached laser sight, and a detached bi-pod. This was a serious weapon that not even the ZPD would have access to without a high alert being issued. Assault weapons like this were probably standard fare for ZAIRD though.

Closing the case, Judy then turned to the other weapon box. It was the same design as the first case-but much fatter and much shorter. It had to be something dangerous, and dangerous it was. Twisting the key and opening the case revealed, what was obviously, a grenade launcher. It was a revolver-type, six round Multiple Grenade Launcher. It was fat and wide-probably just as big as Fennick himself and inside it's foam accessory lining was a sight that would attach to the top of the weapon. It was solid black, just like the other weapon, and this-was clearly illegal. Explosive ordinance in the hands of civilians, especially criminals, was a nightmare for any and all law enforcement.

Deep inside, Judy wanted to do something about this here and now, or at least report it to the ZPD, but she was unarmed, out of uniform, technically off duty , in the care of her injured partner, partially injured, partially delirious, and without any form of radio or even a phone she would trust herself with using. All the chips really were in Fennick's hands like he had previously mentioned-but knowing about this made her an accessory. Fennick was helping, helping a lot, but buying stuff like this made Fennec out to be more of a terrorist than a con man or a petty shyster. He said he wanted to defend himself, but this was in clear breach of the law.

Only the law was currently out of Judy's reach.

She sighed, closing the case, locking it, and returned to Nick's side at the same, convenient, time that Fennick threw open the driver's side door. Judy hastily dropped to the floor to sit beside Nick like she hadn't been putting her bunny paws all over Fennick's illegally purchased goods.

As he jumped into his seat and slammed the door, he hastily began rubbing his arms and swearing.  
"GOD-DAMN it's cold as a witch's tit out there, aint it?" He leaned against the passenger's seat while looking into the back of the van to see Judy and Nick's camouflaged outline. "You aiight back here?"  
Judy nervously smiled and nodded, "It's chilly."  
"Fuck yeah it is. Don't worry, it's time to get the f-outta tundra town." Fennick spun back around and sat in his seat, tossing a few brown paper bags and a small reinforced case into the passenger's seat. With a cackle, he threw the engine in drive and began peeling away from the frozen under pass he'd parked under and got out into the empty street pulling up the road and towards the highway.

"Hey- _Officer Hopps._ " Fennick glanced up into the rear view mirror to grin back at Judy. "You didn't happen to ID any of those three back there I was talking to ... did you?"  
"ID?" Judy responded quickly. "N-no. Why would I?"  
"Well I figured you, being an officer, never actually turn off your police sense." Fennick chuckled again, turning his vision back to the road. "I was wondering because... they piss me the fuck off."

"What?" Judy frowned, scooting closer to Nick. "Why? I thought you were friends with those guys?"  
"Friends? No, that was all business. But they move in a damn unit-real close-real suspicious, real tight, and they wave their guns around like they own em." Fennick spat angrily while changing lanes. It prompted the ammo boxes to slide around, but with the rows the boxes were sitting atop didn't allow them to shift towards her, only to the rear of the van, slamming against the door.

"But-" Judy kept her eyes on the weapons crates that slid around freely. Since they were bigger, they ignored the rails in the van's bed and just slid wherever they wanted, and they wanted to slide into Nick's head, forcing Judy to push her bunny foot paws against the boxes to keep their distance-exposing her warm foot paws to the icy chill of frozen metal and plastic.

It wasn't pleasant. "But-" Judy continued. "They _do_ own them."

"Nah, they don't own those guns." Fennick snorted, "They're stolen."  
"Stolen?" Judy's brow wrinkled while pushing the heavy grenade launcher away from her and Nick while Fennick took a turn onto the on ramp for the highway. "How can you say that?"

Fennick shook his head, then glanced out the window to see if anything was coming before pulling out onto the highway, but it was clear, suspiciously clear. "Because I'm a criminal too. Petty crime, but you still get an eye for stolen shit. It's about the way an animal talks, the way an animal walks, the way an animal wants to show and unload all the shit they have for cheap."

"How cheap?" Judy asked, sitting back down as the ride became cleaner and less rocky.  
"Too cheap." Fennick frowned, "I'm not comfortable with talking about the price but I was getting the hell out of there before something showed up. Just dealing with them made me feel like I was being watched, and my van aint the most inconspicuous shit on the road. So I don't stick around in suspicious places for too long, or good cops like you will pull my ass over for suspicion or conspiracy."

That was true. Judy and Nick's jobs were to keep the streets clean and safe, and since Nick was an con-artist himself, he really had the eye for identifying shady behavior. It made their task of reaching quota much easier, and the task of tracking dangerous criminals less stressful. So just knowing that a van, decorated with two foxes on its side, had been spotted near a possible arms deal was more than reason enough to pull him over. But in this exact instance, she was an accessory to the crime.

"Look." Fennick started up again, "I'm not really comfortable with talking about the how's and why's of illegal activities, especially not with a cop. But, if I've ever snitched in my life, it would be on those assholes."  
Judy frowned up at him, her brow wrinkled in clear confusion. Was it something to do with Tundra Town? Something to do with their prices?

"Reason being." Fennick began, "Is because that Polar Bear... works for Mr. Big. Nick told me about the rug exchange before me and him started working together again. Same dude works for Mr. Big, is selling guns? The Frozen Mafia don't run guns... Shit, the Mafia don't do illegal shit that animals don't already know about, but selling guns damn sure aint one of their past times. And that trashy vixen bitch, never saw her before in my life, and that wolf-new face too."

"So...?" Judy's ears fell backwards, trying to piece things together.  
"So, one dude that works for a crime boss, and two strange new faces aint nobody in the underground ever seen before show up and start selling weapons? It's some whack shit that I wasn't going to stay apart of. I grabbed some guns, then walked out of there. Calm-Cool-Gangasta as fuck."

It all started to sound scarier than it needed to.  
"So..." Judy jumped to her feet, avoiding Nick as she rose, and ran to the ammo cases and weapons.  
"W-what the hell you think you doin? Don't be touchin' that shit! It's new!" Fennick shouted back at Judy as she popped the latch on an ammo case. Surprised as all hell to see that they were _actually_ filled with live rounds.

"Oh!" Judy paused, thinking she was going to see a box full of packing peanuts, or joker teeth. "I just thought your ammo cases may have been fakes."  
"Why?!" Fennick argued while checking his side view mirrors again while switching lanes.  
"Because that woman carried like... well, twelve of them, and she doesn't look that strong." Judy explained while checking each ammo crate individually, still shocked to see real bullets in each one.

"Yea, that kind of bothered me too." Fennick agreed. "Like I said-never saw that bitch before in my life. Kinda freaky how she could carry all them boxes with no help. Must have been like one-two hundred pounds."  
"Try three hundred and sixty pounds." Judy revealed, now stepping up to the DMR case.  
"Whaaaat?" Fennick snorted in disbelief, "Bull shit."

"No, an ammo case is typically thirty pounds at full capacity, obviously depending on the weight of the round itself but usually thirty pounds is capacity. She had twelve of them and smiled about it the entire time." The bunny continued to explain as she unlocked and pulled open the DMR case. Everything was still just as in order as it had been left as before... but there had to be something else here. Something about the arms deal made Judy's fur crawl and gave her a bad feeling in her gut, and she knew to trust her gut. It's what lead her to Nick and gotten her this far after all.

"Shit." Fennick nodded, not disagreeing with Judy-but hearing his weapons being opened made his ears dip back and his fangs come out. "HEY!" He shouted.  
"Let me do this!" Judy shouted back at Fennick as she started to pull the accessories out of the box, and set them on the floor-they quickly started rolling away.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Fennick screamed, not paying attention to the road.  
"Hey-!" Judy shouted back, "I'll put them back! Eyes on the road!"  
"The fuck you doing with my shit?!" Fennick snarled, reaching for the other box in the passenger's seat. Judy saw what he was doing and felt he was going for a weapon, but she couldn't _not_ be wrong about this. She had to prove something was up, and fast.

Her hunches are never wrong.

As Judy tore up the foam lining that kept that accessories and long rifle in place, she revealed a tacky, and hastily crafted, black flashing box resting on the inside of the case. It looked like another key fob, or some kind of garage door opener, but it was beeping silently, strobing it's tiny green light on and off rapidly as if it were indicating something.

"W-what in the fuck is-IS THAT A TRACKING DEVICE?!" Fennick shouted.  
"EYES ON THE ROAD!" Judy shouted back at Fennick, seeing something quickly approaching the vehicle from the front.  
"SHIT!" Fennick spun to look ahead, right as a helicopter buzzed over the van. "OH SHIT!"

"W-what?! WHAT?!" Judy screamed, also hearing the deafening roar of the chopper blades over head, giving her terrible déjà-vu from yesterday morning. That noise, it was too similar it sounded almost exactly like... a ZAIRD helicopter.

"A goddamn chopper! Fuck! Fuck!" Fennick started to panic, checking his side view mirror to then see a black vehicle approaching him at an alarming rate. "God damn it." Fennick silently swore. "That better be a muh-fukkin street racer!"

"Street racer?!" Judy stood up, while pulling open the Grenade Launcher box. "There aren't street racers in Tundra Town! The roads are too slick!"  
"Then we got a damn tail!" Fennick shouted back at her, as the small case was tossed back into the passenger's seat. Judy's sensitive ears could hear the distinct click of a magazine being loaded into an pistol's slot.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Judy shouted up at him while tearing out the heavy MGL and the accessory, hastily finding the same type-but different make of, tracking device lying on the bottom of the case. Strobing with a different color, strobing in a different fashion but strobing none the less. This was bad.

"God damn it!" Fennick cursed again, seeing the vehicle charging up even faster. "JUDY!" Fennick shouted, "GET YOUR ASS DOWN!"  
"No!" Judy didn't even hesitate to ask why as she dove for Nick to protect him. Within seconds, the horrible howl of bullets tearing through the rear windows began assaulting Judy's ears. They were being fired upon. They were being shot at. As Fennick had said, shit just got bad.

"MOTHER FUCKERS!" Fennick shouted and leaned slightly out his window to start firing back.  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The bunny screamed up at Fennick. "Don't fight the ZAIRD!"  
"ZAIRD?!" Fennick barked, "What the fuck you mean ZAIRD?! Oh HELL NO!" As he shouted, the van suddenly shifted to one side, pushing Judy against the side wall of the vehicle, and the empty DMR case on top of her and Nick. She caught it with her hands so she didn't get bashed but as she did so more bullets came popping into the inside of the van and dove around like popcorn. Hitting the chairs, the cases and the rear interior light, knocking it out completely.

"Damn!" Fennick snarled, having barely dodged a pit maneuver from the black vehicle that was following him, but he had the perfect vantage point to shoot back at them. Even though Judy said not to shoot at the ZAIRD, he assumed ZAIRD was the chopper, not this unmarked vehicle with tinted windows. "You know any wolf and tiger gangsters wearing all black and drive a damn 2017 Mustang?!" Fennick leaned to one side as bullets spat past his face, "And use damn UZI's?!"

"No!" Judy shouted back. "This is so illegal and dangerous it hurts! Why are their cars so new?!" There was no way she could get out of police mode now. She had landed face first in the middle of some strange arms war between ZAIRD, a petty criminal and some gang of low lives. She needed to save herself, Nick and Fennick however possible.

"No fuckin' clue! But it's gunna hurt a lot more if we don't get outta-" The chopper, that had previously buzzed past the van and mustang, had now doubled back. "Oh shit. Judy! Hold onto something!" Fennick demanded while jerking the wheel away from the black mustang that was on him.

As the two vehicles separated, an unhealthy salvo of rounds peppered the frozen tarmac of the highway, spitting ice shards in every direction.

"What in the fuck?!" Fennick was confused as he regained control over the van. "Who are they shooting at?! Them? Or us?!"  
"Who? The car?!" Judy called back. She had regained her footing and was slowly reaching out for the DMR that was lying against the back doors of the van. Contemplating if she should use it or not.  
"Nah! That goddamn chopper!" Fennick's shouting could barely be heard over the roar of the engine and the whipping of chopper blades over head. It was painfully obvious that the air vehicle was in a perfect position to shoot whomever they wanted, whenever they wanted and instead of taking out the van, they chose to pop the road instead.

"If it's ZAIRD, they're probably trying to arrest us!" Judy called up to Fennick who was sweating buckets in the Tundra Town air whipping past his face.  
"They can eat a DICK!" Fennick growled, not sure why both the chopper _and_ car stopped shooting. "Aw fuck, are these clowns working with ZAIRD?! That why they stop shooting?!"  
"That... that can't be right!" Judy was trembling as she reached for the Designated Marksman Rifle. She'd never held a weapon like that before, nor would she want to dare sully her reputation by shooting at a police vehicle, but she had to do something.

"God damn it, I aint got time for this shit!" Fennick hissed and made the attempt to turn into the off ramp lane, but he was being blocked by the black mustang magically roaring right beside him with the driver, a black panther, staring straight ahead while roaring into a cell phone. That driver was a damn expert. One moment he was on Fennick's driver's side, so he could be shot at-but the moment the off ramp came up, he backed off and flew into Fennick's passenger's side blind spot, which had him boxed in. From where Fennick was sitting, there was no way he could take a shot to hit the mustang, he was sitting too high-and even if he wanted to fire, his own van's passenger side door was in the way.

"Damn!" The fennec protested, "They cut me off! We're stuck on the highway now. It's a one way shot to Sahara Square from here-and I guarantee there'll be a damn road block right at the gate."  
"A road block?" Judy shook her head and finally turned away from the weapon. "That's not good."

As she spoke, more bullets suddenly dove into the side of the van, hitting Judy in the tip of one of her ears. The Mustang gangsters had decided to start shooting again.  
"Gyah!" She hissed mildly, feeling just the tip of her ear barely nicked by a bullet.  
"Holy shit!" Fennec snarled, "Hold on bunny!" He barked and spun the steering wheel to ram the Mustang. However the vehicle, and it's driver, were built and trained for this-so they barely even slid even while on top of an ice covered road.

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" Fennick's anger only continued to rise as the chopper spat more rounds into the two vehicles, this time actually hitting both of them at once.  
"Shiiiiit!" Fennick howled as he lost control of the van, and started spinning wildly. The mustang next to him followed suit and spun around on the road, slamming into the stone barrier in the slow lane. Fennick's van however, slammed into the barrier of the fast lane, breaking open the stones and forcing the van into a slight dangle, holding it's rear two tires over literally nothing, while the rest of the van's body sat slammed on the road. The front of the van was facing the mustang, as three delirious gangsters quickly crawled out. A black panther, a tiger and a brown wolf. All male, all wearing black shirts and jeans, and all carrying short automatic weapons.

"Shiiit..." Fennick hissed. He'd been completely flattened against his driver's seat from his air bag, and was virtually immobilized due to the fact that his seatbelt, had latched itself into place. "God-damn." He muttered, a grin on his face.

"F-Fennick?!" Judy coughed, feeling a tiny trickle of blood leaking down her ear. Nick had been slapped up against the other wall of the van, but Judy was there to break his _fall_ as she was punched under him. Her head ached, and her body cried-but she was a tough bunny, she could take the pain. Academy training was worse than this. At least here she's not declared ' _dead_ ' every ten minutes. "Fennick?" She called again. "Are you alright?"

"Heh heh." Fennick sighed. "Nah, looks like they got me."  
"What?!" Judy pushed Nick forward where he slumped inert on the floor of the van. She pushed past all the loose bullets and gun accessories to pull herself up to the seats. The incline giving her a bit of trouble while round after round, and bullet after bullet rolled past her fingers. But she used her academy training to scale the slick surface of the van's floor, reaching into bullet holes and using those as foot and finger holds to lift herself up to see Fennick's condition.

His shades had cracks in them, and there was the tiniest bruise on his forehead, aside from that-he was actually quite fine.  
"You don't look too bad. Here, let me-" Judy began to reach for his seat belt, but hear the unmistakable click of guns cocking. She could still hear, even over the roar of the chopper that was still circling over head like the angriest bee. The animals outside, the wolf, tiger and black panther, hid behind their mustang and snarled at the flying death machine as if they were able to actually intimidate it.

"Look, we got time, we can-" Judy tried to speak, but Fennick cut her off.  
"Look, cop. I've been dodging the ZAIRD for a long time, and whoever, or whatever those muh-fukkas are out there, they're probably going to get to us first, and even if they don't... My van aint going to survive a fall like this."

"What do you m-" Judy paused a third time now, remembering what this exact bridge from Tundra Town to Sahara Square was above-water... by at least three hundred feet. It was less used on the account that the ice was harder to melt, and from the other side the heat of the climate wall made the road three times hotter than normal. So commercial and civilian vehicles would incur a lot of heat durability damage by passing through them only to suddenly shift into arctic temperatures and endanger their glass and metal parts even more. It made for the perfect side road for something illegal, or something off the records. Regardless that they were so high up and that people _might_ see it, there was too great a chance that _no one_ would see it as well, especially at eight in the morning, commuters would already be at work for most businesses.

"So like my boy would say in situations like this." Fennick chuckled, "We're dead. _I'm dead. You're dead. We're all dead!"_  
"I.." The chopper outside cut Judy off this time as it opened fire on the bridge, unsticking the Mustang and causing the vehicle to slide away from the bridge and fall. The three predators, dressed in black, stupidly stood their ground and started firing back at the chopper, which Judy could finally see was a Black Hawk, meaning that it's guns-weren't just armed, but they were manned by actual animals and could be operated independent of vehicle flight. They could track any target they wanted at any time, so they weren't actually missing, or at least not missing on purpose.

Within moments of firing back, the helicopter's mounted weapons spun, spitting rounds at the three hostile gangsters on the ground, rending them dead in mere moments. Blood went scattering across the wind shield of Fennick's van as the animals hit the frozen tarmac.  
"Oh god no!" Judy cried, now understanding the full weight of the situation.  
"Judy." Fennick laughed, feeling the air back slowly deflating. "Get your ass outta my van."  
"What?!" Judy shoot her head, "There's no way I'm going to let you-"

But with the air bag deflated, and the ground threat gone, Fennick slapped the release for his seat belt and hit the seat adjust lever. Leaning his seat back full tilt, he slid down the body of the van to seize the grenade launcher and flip it into his paws.  
"Fuck ZAIRD." He stated plainly, and kicked open one of the ammo cases, searching for his 40mm grenades.

Judy protested loudly as she slid back with him, landing on Nick in the process. "You can't do this! They're cops! Super cops! They'll-they'll kill you!"  
As she shouted, the van began to unpleasantly tip. The majority of the weight was still comfortably kept in the front of the vehicle-but with moving bodies in the back, along with the blasting air pressure of a helicopter overhead, the vehicle was threatening to topple over.

"Fine!" Fennick scurried back to the front of the vehicle with an ammo case in his paw. He picked up one of the brown paper bags and pulled out fragmentation grenades. "Those fuckers screwed me over, so I aint getting arrested! I'm not going out like Nikki!" Fennick didn't hesitate to yell at the chopper. He was behind a blood stained windshield, but by the way the chopper hung in the air in front of him-it looked like they heard what he's said. Without wasting any more time, four soldiers, dressed in all black heavy armor, began to repel from the helicopter. They looked like they meant serious business and hit the ground hard-with enough force to make the van rock and slide even more.

"Judy!" Finnick hissed, clicking the grenade launcher off safety and arming a pineapple in his paw. "Tell Nick I'll miss his sorry ass! Now get the hell outta my van!"  
The van shuddered as it was seized in the, near robotic paws of the black clad soldiers. Finnick hissed and spun the grenade launcher at his passengers side window, but a black fist came ramming through the driver's side window-grabbing him by the neck of his black and red button up shirt and pulling him through.

Judy could hear the unmistakable filtered growls and shouts of the soldiers as Fennick fought them, they were clearly ZAIRD, even with a shot ear-she knew that. Judy's heart was racing at a mile a minute as she heard an explosion rattle off somewhere on the road. Prompting the van to slide a little more.  
"Hold on to it!" A filtered voice demanded.  
"Holding sir!" Two voices barked in unison.  
"Check the van for anyone else, or any contraband! Move, move!" The first of the four voices barked another order.  
"FUCK YOU BITCH!" Fennick could be heard roaring, but began howling in agony only a moment after.  
"Speak when spoken to maggot!" The first robotic voice blurted.  
"Sir!" The fourth voice, in response to his order to search the van, started forward and tore open the passenger's side door with ease.  
"GRAAAAA!" Fennick screamed, causing Judy's panic mode to work even harder. She turned to Nick, who was uncomfortably collapsed on the ground, then turned to the back doors of the van. It was her only option to escape, there was no telling what ZAIRD would do to her and him if they caught up with them after Nick's break out.  
"EAT - A - DICK!" Fennick cried again, then without warning-another explosion rocked the bridge.

Judy was thrown against the back door of the van, punching it open with her near naked back, propelling herself, ammunition, the DMR, the empty weapons cases and Nick into a dangerous free fall towards the frozen river below.

'Free falling, was this what it was like for that poor badger woman?' Judy's mind wandered for a half moment, while also experiencing the heart wrenching free fall she experienced in her night terror. But seeing Nick's sleepy face approaching hers was the only thing that kept her from screaming and sheer horror.

Heavier objects did indeed fall faster, so Nick fell straight into Judy's awaiting arms as they sailed towards the river below, and coming up behind Nick, like some kind of magic clam, was the case for the DMR. In that instant, Judy had one idea that was just crazy enough to work...

She kept Nick in her arms as the case got closer and closer, somehow folding over his arms and ears but it didn't collapse down over his body like a venus fly trap. Instead Judy had to let him go for a moment, just a short half second, and stab her tiny rabbit claws into the insides of the case, to grab each side of the cases mouth, and pull as hard as she could manage against the wind and the turbulence.

The case slammed shut only a moment before impacting with the frozen water, being quickly followed by a large rifle, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Then a van, that exploded on impact.

.

* * *

.

"MY VAN! MY FUKKIN VAN!" Fennick struggled against the grip of the ZAIRD officer that held him down.  
"Damn criminals!" The soldier twisted Fennick around, causing him to howl again in agony.  
"AAAAUUUGH!" Fennick cried, "MY ARM! MY FUKKIN ARM!"  
"It will be more than your arm you have to worry about if you ke-" The soldier was interrupted by another soldier. One of the two that was holding onto the van before it fell.

"Sir!" The fourth soldier saluted. "Private Craid is injured. He was hit by the explosion, sir."  
The soldier ontop of Fennick released an audible growl through their filtered helmet. Even though he was holding onto Fennick, the small fox still managed to knock off a round at his own vehicle in the struggle to gain control of him. "Then go check him and see if he needs medical attention..."  
"Sir!" The fourth soldier saluted and hurried over to soldier three that was unmoving on the ground.

"You're going to pay if my officer is dead, pest." The first soldier hissed down at Fennick.  
"Eat... a...dick." Fennick hissed back up at them. "You ZAIRD fuckers don't know shit. You can't do shit! You aint shit!"  
"Looks like you just abandoned your last hope, whelp." The solider growled deeply, then pulled hand cuffs and slapped them on Fennick, to keep him down against the cold frozen tarmac and proceeded to kick and beat him against the ice and blood ridden dirt.

The second soldier, who was checking the vitals of the dead gangsters, stood and powerlessly watched his commanding officer beating a civilian in the street. The fourth soldier checking on the third soldier, rose and watched for a moment as Fennick was beaten mercilessly. He was stomped and kicked with heavy boots, punched by their armored fists and thrown against the ground like dirty laundry, summoning more and more blood from the tiny, child sized, fennec fox's body with each successive blow.

The fourth soldier, who felt this was getting too terrible to watch, stepped up to his commanding officer and saluted. "S-sir!" He bellowed. "There are no life signs on Private Craid, sir. He appears to have died from the impact... or... fright. But his armor is in perfect condition, sir!"  
The first soldier stood and gently flicked blood off his gloves, giving his punching bag a break.

"Unfortunate." The soldier muttered, "And the vehicle?"  
"Destroyed, sir." The fourth soldier reported. "The chopper unit reports that it hit the water and exploded. Shall we launch a follow up investigation?"

"No." The first soldier grumbled, glaring down at the bleeding Fennec. "This low life was the only one in there, and even if it wasn't... we'll beat the truth out of him back at head quarters. There's an internal investigation coming up soon anyway, so no need to be gentle with our interrogation."

"S-Sir!" The fourth soldier continued to salute.  
The first solider stomped back over to Fennec who was lying inert on the ground, but he was awake and bleeding. His nose had been broken, his ears were leaking with blood and one of his eyes was shut from swelling. His light fur also didn't do a very good job of concealing all the injuries he'd suffered, so he was covered in bruises and scrapes and his clothes were dyed red from blood, some of it his, some of it from the gangsters.

"Well, maggot?" The first soldier spat, "Any more smart ass remarks about the Zootopia Infiltration Division?"  
"M-maybe that... ya momma so hairy, she has to comb her wrist to see what time it is."  
"WHAT?!" The first soldier snapped, and kicked Fennick, forcing him to slide towards the hole where his van had crashed through. "Don't think I won't execute you, insect!"  
Fennick, with a chipped tooth and a broken nose, glanced up at the soldier. "Yo. Ya momma so nasty, when her fleas hatch, they all run to her ears and start hitch hiking."

Fennick barely got to grin as the first soldier's weapon bashed him in the skull, causing him to fall over limp and nearly lifeless. Fennick's entire body was aching, demanding that he stop and just lay down and die-but his pride couldn't allow, wouldn't allow, refused to allow something like that to happen. He was a gangsta, no matter how you sliced it. He'd lost his best friends, according to the guy talking about the helicopter, and it was his turn to make his way to the Gangsta's Paradise, but he wasn't going to do it on his knees without talking much shit first.

"You criminals disgust me." The first soldier growled, finally betraying his species. Fennick didn't pay attention before, but he could now see that he'd been talking down to a Wolverine, as the soldier peeled away his visor, and muzzle-filter.

"Damn." Fennick coughed as he was lifted effortlessly off the ground, with the soldiers weapon rammed into his abdomen.  
"Any last words, vermin?" The wolverine snarled, beaming his psychotic red glare directly into Fennec's one good eye.  
"Yea..." Fennick snickered past his own blood. "Ya momma-" He then gasped in agony as a bullet tore through his insides. He heard _BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG_ -over and over again... but the pain of the first round had been so dynamic, he apparently couldn't even feel the others.

He felt weightless for a moment as the wolverine dropped him, and fell over himself, all the ZID officers dropped suddenly. It didn't make any sense.

Suddenly, Fennick felt a jolt-and a tug at one of his ears. It didn't even hurt. Perhaps he was in too much shock, or perhaps he was too wounded to care anymore. His consciousness was fading fast and whatever was happening was happening without his input.

"Hold on, little guy." A robotic voice echoed in his ear, as he turned his blurry vision towards it. It was one of the ZAIRD officers, holding him against their chest like he was a newborn. They had caught him before he even hit the ground and were now, helping him?

"The... fuck?" He mumbled out, blood leaking past his fangs. As the soldier glared down at him with their emotionless red goggles. He turned to see the other soldiers... the abusive wolverine captain and his two other soldiers... all dead, leaking from their heads along with the three gangsters who were shot previously.

"What the fu..." The fennec grunted in pain as the ZAIRD soldier took a knee and pressed against his bullet wound, applying pressure to the area. "GRAAAAA-!" Fennec shouted in pure torment.  
"Shhh shhh shhh." The solider attempted to reassure Fennec. "Come on, hold out for a little while longer. Help is on the way."  
"W-who the fuck are you?" Fennec coughed, unable to hide his pain any further.  
"Not ZID, I can tell you that. The rest is classified." The soldier muttered, and continued to apply pressure.

"D-did you kill those assholes?" Fennick's breathing increased rapidly. "They look dead."  
"That's classified." The soldier repeated.  
"Fucking ZAIRD." Fennick groaned, starting to faint.  
"Stay with me, fox. Come on, stay with me." The robotic voice wasn't very reassuring, but it was enough to keep Fennick from blacking out.

"W-what the fuck do you want with me? Your man shot my ass." Fennick exhaled harshly, spitting blood into the soldier's mask. The soldier didn't even motion to wipe the blood away.  
"I'm sorry." The soldier's voice audibly dipped in it's tone for a moment, as they lowered their head in shame. Were they genuinely sorry? Was this guy actually the dead third soldier? Did that hit to the head trigger something in them?

"Hey fox." The soldier lifted their head up to stare at Fennick. "What was that last joke? Come on I want to hear it."  
"Heh, yeah-it was a good one." Fennick coughed.  
"Please, tell it to me." The soldier beckoned, urging Fennick to stay awake as best he could.  
"Heh..." The fennec fox's eyes were rolling into the back of his head. "Ya-ya momma so stupid. When I told her I wanted-I wanted to do it doggy style; the bitch sat on the floor and started to lick her own pussy."

There was a pause, then Fennick started to laugh, which triggered the soldier to loudly snicker into their filter and start laughing loudly as well.

"You-you can't-" Fennick continued to chuckle. "You can't be ZAIRD, man. You too cool."  
"I'm ..." The soldier's laughter ceased. "That's classified."  
"Shit." Fennick's eyes shifted, in the direction of the loud roar of a chopper suddenly rolled up towards the two of them. The giant Black Hawk helicopter's search light glaring down the injured fennec fox and the ZAIRD soldier, even though it was the middle of the morning.

Fennick's smile got wider, "Well it's been cool man. But you can't do shit against that."  
The ZAIRD soldier gently rolled their paw away from Fennick's wound. "Hold this down." They said, revealing that they were pressing a mesh compress against the hole. It had turned completely red with blood.

Fennick was surprised to see only one hole, he had thought he'd been shot at least seven or eight times from the amount of _blams_ he'd heard, but it must have been from this soldier getting up and taking down their own men. Why would they do such a thing? As Fennick was sat down on the cold tarmac in front of the officer, he could see them palming a large handgun, larger than the one he had bought and didn't get to really even shoot.

"W-what the fuck you doin man? You can't fight that thing! Not with no-not with no damn handgun." Fennick growled, hating the cold pressing up against his back bullet wound, but it was at least good that the bullet passed through him instead of hitting something important. He watched in wonder, he watched in delusion, he watched in awe as this ZAIRD soldier's vulpine tail whipped madly in the air pressure generated by the hostile helicopter, but their own stance didn't waver or shake. Like this solider was made out of the toughest stuff, and was the hardest of the hard.

"I told you, I'm ZAIRD." The soldier turned to fearlessly face down the flying death machine. "I'll walk on water if I have to."

* * *

 _A/N: A lot more research went into this chapter than before, but I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you all had just as much fun reading it. Also, if you know where the Fennick's 'Yo Mama' jokes came from, you and me are already dangerously good friends. All PM's and reviews are much appreciated, chapter 6 will follow soon!  
_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I apologize for the delay, and I apologize for the size. So far this is the largest chapter, a lot of explaining this time around and less action. Again, sorry in advance.

* * *

Ice Carvers, 121 Glacier Street in Tundra Town. It was about eight thirty in the morning, and the calls were already coming in for Cutters to arrive. Every night the Climate Wall would kick up a mild font of medium to low temperatures to compensate for the natural chill that occurred whenever the sun was down. In the morning the chill would intensify and blow fresh snow across the streets of Tundra Town, while the Climate Wall would renew the searing temperatures for Sahara Square. This shift in night time to morning temperatures would convince the milder, packed snow to gently melt and leak moisture all throughout the night then be turned to solid ice as the new chill arrived. This then was a job for Ice Carver's professional Ice Cutters. Ice Cutters were animals of all sizes that carried ice picks, De-Icer cannons, Roof Rakes, Ground Shovels, Blow Torches, Ropes and all manner of professional ice and snow removal equipment. Dressed for the job, they were also sporting thick winter coats on their fur, while wearing an orange scarf that read 'Carvers' in black and gold letters. Or if they weren't able to produce fur thick enough, they would instead take to wearing thick temperature controlled orange jackets with the same branding. Issued by the company for free of course.

Normally, trucks, vans and snow mobiles would have been deployed all over the city by now, but there was a mandatory meeting this morning at headquarters. It was announced on extremely short notice, but none the less it was a requirement for every Ice Carver to show up for it, to which everyone was present-except for three members.

A polar bear, a tundra wolf and an arctic fox.

The meeting room was full of Ice Carvers talking amongst themselves about their latest jobs. Each animal was actually different, since each job was different, so no two employees were of the same species. There were twenty three animals present, including the boss, and their sizes ranged from small, to medium to large, giving everyone a fair shot at doing some work on smaller jobs. Jobs like Chez's Cheez on Frost Avenue, or the large commercial jobs like clearing out parking lots at Mousy's.

The boss, a snow leopard with well oversized black ears, stood in front of the meeting room while everyone else talked amongst themselves. He wore next to nothing that said business, aside from his suit pants. He left the jacket in his office. He had on a white tank top, clearly stating that he, and the other Tundra biome animals, cared not for the cold. The snow leopard tapped his toe claws impatiently while leaning against the large oak desk at the head of the meeting room. His patience was great, but it was wearing thin by the minute. The three missing animals weren't late _yet,_ but playing this close to the line was growing on his nerves. The snow leopard's red eyes shifted to the analog clock hanging on the wall. It was eight fifty-five, they had five minutes to get here before he locked them out and ruined their ability to remain professional under the watchful eye of the law. It was true that they were all professional ice cutters, a legitimate business, but the boss' latest report would ensure that everyone would newly know how to avoid being arrested on conspiracy or suspicion with ZAIRD on the loose.

The snow leopard drug his wide, black paws through his even blacker braided hair. Thickly wrapped locks that extended to nearly the center of his back and, while also not common on snow leopards, granted him a bit more protection against the cold.

Slowly his eyes shifted to the wall clock again, eight fifty-six. Only a moment has passed. His large black ears flexed to the vibrations of all the conversations occurring in the room around him. While other snow leopards had small and subtle ears, his own were large and sharp, more like that of a small feline or a vulpine's ears than a large cat. But they gave him an immense edge on hearing. He could hear almost every conversation in the room and identify the unique differences in everyone's voice. He could tell there was a lot of flirting between crew, but they never really fraternized during work hours so all was well on that front. Even earlier, while listening to news reports in his office. He detected the unique vibrations of a helicopter a few miles away, and the unmistakable repeating pops of gunfire. That's why he called this morning's meeting on such short notice.

In the basement garage, he could now hear a van pulling in like it was in a hurry. The loud, thump of car doors soon followed. Them the stomps and stamps of three separately weighted animals charging towards the basement elevator. The missing members were finally arriving. His eyes shifted to the wall clock, eight fifty-seven. They arrived and with minutes to spare. Lucky them.

Then only moments after, "We're here!" The polar bear, wolf and vixen came crashing through the door to the meeting room. The three were greeted with laughs from their co-workers, and a stern silent glare from their employer. The boss wasn't impressed, nor deterred. He only wanted to get things going.

"Sorry boss, traffic is..." Mondval, the Polar Bear began to explain but he didn't have any real excuse, he was just late because they were late.  
"Just sit down Mondval." The snow leopard groaned lightly, a rich British accent padded beneath all his words. "Tone, Monica, I assume the both of you were with Mondval. Do keep up with the schedule. There is important business to discuss."

"How important?" Monica, the arctic fox inquired while taking a seat at a table along with Mondval and Tone, the tundra wolf.  
The snow leopard opened his maw to release a large, fanged yawn. His black claws erected from his paws to gently slide across the surface of the oak desk he'd been patiently waiting in front of. Closing his mouth, he stood up straight and turned to the audience of ice carvers before him. "Well, let's get to it." With a flick of his paw, the lights in the room dimmed, and a projection illuminated the forward wall Ten was standing at.

'ZAIRD' was projected on the white board, running alongside one of the many news feeds from earlier this morning.

"ZAIRD," The snow leopard began. "There has been an announcement that ZAIRD has appeared inside Zootopia, and chances are they will begin a city wide sweep for the criminals responsible. For those of you unaware, the PMPI building in Downtown Zootopia was attacked this morning. It was some type of viral outbreak in the building that caused animals within to go savage and attack one another." There was a light gasp from his audience of Ice Carvers, some of them knew, others clearly didn't, but they all listened on anyway.

"The savage animals even attacked ZPD who arrived on scene, unfortunately killing them in the process. In the end, twenty animals died at approximately one o'clock this morning. But I didn't gather you all here to tell you that, I brought you here to tell you this..."

The snow leopard turned to his white board again, hitting a tiny remote palmed in his fist to advance his presentation. It brought up, what looked like, an advertisement for ZAIRD, that read.

' - To serve, protect, and defend Zootopia and animal kind everywhere.' It displayed their emblem and their central building, a tall black sky scraper near downtown Zootopia, closer to the Meadowlands than anywhere else technically. Although if any animal were to think back-that building wasn't actually there anymore. It may have been at one point but it seemed to have just _disappeared_ in recent years.

"ZAIRD" The snow leopard called out to his employees. "Can anyone tell me what it stands for?"  
Instantly, at least seven paws, and hooves went in the air. The leopard pointed towards a female ox, with muscles far larger than she looked like she needed, but she looked good in them regardless.  
"It stands for, **Zootopia Assault Infiltration and Rescue Division** , Mr. Ten." She told him, referring to him by name, in a stern, but saucy tone of voice.

Ten, was the snow leopard's name, or at least that's what he told everyone.  
"Incorrect." Ten informed her, much to the ox's shock. Followed by each paw and hoof retracting their bets. Apparently everyone only knew of the current ZAIRD, and not the one that was commissioned ten years ago and fell apart five years ago.

Ten nodded, "Alright then, ZAIRD actually stands for **Zootopia Assault Infiltration Research and Rescue Division**. Once upon a time, ZAIRD was abbreviated to ZAIRRD, and the organization was split into four units. Unit one was the Zootopia Assault Division, code name **ZAD**. Those were the guys all of our movies feature whenever we go fighting over seas with the lizards and the birds. Those are the guys who undergo the dangerous operations that require people to be tortured, fired upon and brought back alive... Those are the guys that both eat, and shit bullets. Those guys, are dangerous."

Again, his employees sat in total silence while he explained.  
"Unit two is the Zootopia Infiltration Division, code named **ZID.** Those are the guys you virtually never see. Again, we make our movies about guys like that. The spies, the secret agents, the sleeper agents, the infiltrators... They blend in perfectly, gain as much information as they can about their target, then silently put them in the dirt and escape just as silently as they arrive." Ten spoke while staring at Monica, Mondval and Tone. All three of which looked absolutely paranoid by his accurate retelling of the Divisions, but didn't raise a paw to speak.

"Lastly," Continued the snow leopard, "Is the Zootopia Rescue Division, code named **ZRD**. These are our nuclear scrubbers. Our bomb defusal experts. Our chemical warfare phalanx. These are the animals that can save that who is dying. They can restore what is missing, and combat the uncurable. These guys save lives, from the smallest shrew, to the largest elephant, and they do it in a jiffy. But don't let the red cross fool you, they're tough as nails like the others they just shoot less and more accurately because of it."

"Sir?" A female lynx called up to Ten. "What about that fourth or the uh... third one? The Research department? I never heard of them before."

The lynx's comment was joined with the agreeing murmurs from other animals that also were oblivious to the existence of a fourth division of the secret police.  
"Mhmm, the Research Division." Ten cleared his throat, advancing his slide again, showing a dated photo of the four Captains of each division twenty years ago. "The Zootopia Research Division was the only of the four Divisions that never went into live combat first. The Rescue Division were the medics, of course, so they were expected to receive live fire eventually. But the Research Division's primary goal was to identify whatever substance was in the air, water, or dirt that was getting into animal food or animal blood-and stop it from killing animals. Curing poisons, stopping plagues, destroying viruses. Most of the deadly diseases that wiped out our primitive beast predecessors, were completely wiped out by the work of this single division, and we have them to thank for many of our over the counter medicines that keep us healthy and well nourished. Technically, the Research division is also responsible for the bug burgers and jumbo shrimp that we all love so much. They're heroes just like the other three-but they were disbanded."

"Sir?" A male lion waved his paw in the air. "This is great and all and very informative. But, what does this have to do with us? We're just Ice Carvers, I don't think the history of the military is going to get us out on our routes any faster." Many nods followed the question while all the animals kept their attention locked on Ten, and the slide of the four ZAIRD commanders, wearing nothing but military uniforms finely decorated with medals and patches.

"I'm glad you asked." Ten smiled towards the lion as he put his paw down. "The reason is... ZAIRD will more than likely be flying in choppers, moving with APCs and, fingers crossed that this one never comes through, rolling tanks into the city. You are all responsible for your own well being while out on the ice, carving, cutting and de-icing-but if a ZAIRD vehicle buzzes past you and splatters you across the road-I'm powerless to do anything about it."

There was a hush among the employees, now understanding the presentation. ZAIRD was here to help, but they employed much stronger, strong armed tactics than the ZRD or even the military in some instances. Ten continued with his explanation, "I can't stop any of these vehicles from rolling past, flying over or even seizing a portion of the city. On top of that-I can't stop any of ZAIRD from pulling over, or arresting any of you for _anything._ They're police. So while I'm not saying that they're crooked, and will grab you just because... They ARE allowed to grab you just because. So if any of you have done something wrong, or personally don't like law enforcement. Or are just in a bad mood and don't like high tech military grade devices flying over your heads... I implore you, I beg you, I'm praying, that you will just stuff it. And do your damn jobs."

There was now mild chuckling coming from the twenty five animals sitting before the snow leopard. "There's no way I can stop them from arresting any of you, and if they harm you, by accident or on purpose... there's not much I can do about that either. They're only here because they were announced by the ZPD, otherwise they'd still be ghosts in our own back yard."

Mondval, the polar bear sitting with Monica and Tone rose a large paw, "But-How long will ZAIRD be in city?"  
"Mondval." Ten exhaled, "They've _always_ been in the city... They're only showing their necks because ZPD announced it, probably to their exact disapproval. Which means they don't have to play nice anymore. They're going to be all over the streets like they own them until whatever investigation the police has them on-is through. So again," Ten turned to everyone as the lights returned and the projection faded away, "If there's any resentment for the Special Forces or Law Enforcement-keep it in your hat, and shovel the snow, alright?" With that animals began to rise from their seats, shuffling for the door to begin their days work.

Tone rose a paw, snatching the snow leopard's attention. "Um... Mr. Ten?" His paw was shaking while he was looking at his phone nervously.  
"Yes, Tone? What is it?" Ten acknowledged the wolf past a rhino and cheetah stepping out of the room. Trying to discover the reason behind the grey tundra wolf's terrified expression. It was as if he'd seen a ghost.

"I have to make a phone call... I was just informed that one of my family members was involved in the PMPI incident this morning."

Ten's ears slipped towards the back of his head, visibly showing his grief for all to see. Mr. Ten, the snow leopard, was a hard man, a patient man and a strong individual. But he was not above empathy for his fellow animal. "That is terrible news." The snow leopard sighed. "Well-I suppose all I was trying to say everyone was... If you see helicopters, or vehicles that don't look civilian. Check your speed, and stay out of their way. Don't get arrested. Don't get killed. Okay? Good, now get out there and shovel some snow and break some ice."

.

* * *

.

Chief Bogo was sitting in his office chair. He was at his desk, exhausted and staring straight into the ceiling with nothing but doubt in his mind. He didn't know what was happening anymore. He didn't know what was supposed to happen next. He hadn't even issued any real orders aside from directing his officers to the homes of animals that had lost their loved ones in that horrible attack earlier in the day. His mouth opened releasing, a deep sigh of aggravation, depression, desperation and confusion. What was happening to this city in only a few short hours? What would become of this city in the next few hours? What other phone calls would he suddenly get today? Where had the time gone?

Just last week, things were proceeding as normal with Officers Hopps and Wilde roughing up Duke Weasleton to discover a bank robbery was going to occur, and they thwarted it. In their first days as real officers and partners, they found and shut down the malicious street racer that had been ripping up Sahara Cental and now the Department of Mammal Vehicles has never been faster at processing requests. But now, Hopps and Wilde were missing. ZRD clearly shit the bed when it came to properly maintaining their charges. That was a nightmare in itself to even think about. On top of all that, Ex-Mayor LionHeart was awake, and now he would be assaulting Bogo's phone any minute with a panic attack.

LionHeart was still a lazy piece of work, but with his title stripped and only given the opportunity to serve as a figure head instead of a politician. The man was actually showing genuine interest in the city instead of furthering his post and remaining in office. When it comes to scandals and screw ups, LionHeart would no doubt go down in history as one of the biggest. But as he'd mentioned on the news after BellWeather was captured. He was doing the wrong thing or the right reason. He tried-only in the most ass way possible. However, now the city was so mysterious and scary, LionHeart had no choice other than to keep posted with the news and keep calling Bogo whenever he had a question about a mysterious organization he received threatening letters from years ago.

Bogo's land line phone began to ring.  
" _Think of the Devil, and he shall beckon."_ Bogo whispered, while adjusting to sit straight up and reached forward to seize his phone.  
"Bogo speaking." The ox exhaled deeply, hating that the Mayor was now his phone pal so frequently.  
"Chief Bogo?" A haggard voice came through the receiver, sounding as if it had run a mile before making the phone call.  
"W-who is... Who is this?" Bogo paused, trying to remember the voice. So much has happened in such a short time. Running on no sleep, spirit effectively battered, work schedule in absolute anarchy. But through all that Bogo could still just barely recognize the voice. He'd heard the voice recently, this the tone, the volume, it all sounded so familiar. "Identify yourself."  
"It's me Chief." The voice spoke low, near a whisper. "Benson."  
"Benson!?" Bogo sat up straight at his desk. "Are you on a... land line? Why are you calling in the middle of the morning?" The ox hadn't guessed Benson, matching the face with the tone did remind him of the wolf on night shift however.

"Sir." Benson exhaled, "I'm at a pay phone, a block down from Ice Carvers."  
"Ice Carvers?" Bogo's brow wrinkled. "Wait-?" Chief Bogo's mind broke open the truth. He'd completely forgotten about the undercover agents that had been deployed in Tundra Town.

The wolf coughed, then spoke into the phone again. "This is Agent Thane Benson, Chief. Badge Number one three..."  
"Benson!" The chief snapped into the phone. "I know perfectly well who you are now, I apologize... You and your brother..."  
"Is he alright, Chief?" Thane inquired quickly, asking about Pete. "I couldn't live with myself if something were to h-"  
"He's fine son, he's fine." Bogo reassured the weary agent. "What about you? Why are you calling? Has your situation changed?"  
"Yes sir." Thane sighed laying on the bad news, "Agents Jeager, Nolan and Clawson are ... dead, sir."  
Chief Bogo nearly dropped the phone away from his ear at the grim news. Thane continued.

"They followed the tracking probe I had installed on a suspicious mark after trading stolen weapons. A fennick fox who was harboring a woman that looked suspiciously like Judy Hopps, who I saw on the news recently. So I activated the probe as the mark pulled away, deploying Jeager, Nolan and Clawson but they were intercepted by a ZAIRD chopper and failed to report in. Their vitals are also reading deceased on my devices... so I have no reason to believe they survived their encounter with them, sir."

"... we just lost six animals earlier today." Bogo mouthed into the phone.  
"Aw Chief..." Thane's voice cracked, his spirit being tested.  
"One is critically injured... and likely to return but... the other five are... gone." The ox sighed, his shoulders slumping. But he summoned his resolve, again, as he'd been doing for the past few long hours. "Abort the mission."  
"I can't sir." Thane immediately refused.  
"What are you saying?" Bogo's voice didn't even rise in aggravation. "Why would you work alone? Your eyes, ears and nose have been cut off."  
"I've trained for this, sir. I can apprehend Ten on my own." Thane continued to argue. "I'm not prepared to leave."

"Ten?!" Bogo nearly shouted, "You work for him, what are you-wait." The Chief paused. "Are you saying Ten _is_ your mark? He's an Ice Cutter."  
"He's a weapon smuggler, sir." Thane reported.  
"What!?" Bogo couldn't believe it. "How can you be so sure? Where is your report?"  
"It was with Clawson, sir. I've only just gained access to sell weapons under Ten. Most of the other animals here don't even know this place is a front. They genuinely think it's an ice cutting and snow plowing business."

"Son. You're the only operative left from a four man team. You were trained for this-but trained to work as a team. You can't accomplish this alone." Bogo attempted to talk sense into the wolf, sensing that Thane wasn't all there anymore. He'd been gone so long, he may have forgotten what it was like to actually _be_ an officer.  
"I'm not exactly alone sir. My other... co-workers, are smart, strong and intelligent individuals that I can probably trust."  
"Probably?" Bogo grunted, "There are no room for probables, Thane. I'm not conducting another funeral for any more of my officers. Your orders are to return to ZPD headquarters."  
"I'm undercover sir, I'm disavowed by the ZPD. So I don't take orders from you." Thane informed him in a pained tone. His spirit fell, he didn't want to sound like a traitor, but he had a job to do and he was determined to see it through.

"Thane... you arrogant fool! Think of what you're doing! Think about how far in you are! The ZPD had no clue that Ten was your mark! He's easily prepared to deal with situations like this, and people like you! Abort the mission!" Bogo shouted as loud as he could in his usual, demanding tone.  
"You don't have to shout! I'll see if I can get time off." Thane responded.  
"Time off?" Bogo repeated, "What the devil are you-"  
"I know, it's just... tough news is all. I'm fine, I'm a man too after all, Dad."  
"Dad?" Bogo paused-understanding what Thane was doing now. Undercover work.

"Son." The ox changed his tune.  
"Dad?" Thane followed suit, acknowledging Bogo's now playing ball too.  
"I love you." Bogo choked out. "We all love you, make your family proud."  
"I will, I love you too dad." Thane then quickly hung up-leaving Bogo hanging on the line.

It had been some time since he'd ever had to say those words, and he'd never actually said them to a man before. But if there was anything Bogo would do-it would be to keep his men alive. Thane obviously had someone closing in on him and he couldn't speak as Thane Benson anymore, he needed to return to his disguise, his secret identity-Thane needed to return to being Tone Whitepaw.

"God damn it." Chief Bogo hung up the land line phone, and didn't even get a moment's breath to himself before the phone rang again... He didn't know what to say this time, so he guessed.

"This is Dad speaking." Bogo guessed wrong.  
"Dad?" An asian voice crept through the phone, then exhaled like they'd been smoking. "Chief Bogo, cut the games-this is Luis."  
The Chief sighed heavily, "Sorry about that Detective. I was just on the phone with-"  
"Agent Benson?" Luis cut Bogo off.  
"What?!" Bogo shouldn't have been surprised-Detective Luis was an enigma. "How'd you discover that? That's classified top-secret information!"  
"I talked up Clawhauser with a box of bear claws and got a list of your officers before I left this morning. It's good to stay informed."  
"Why in the hell did Clawhauser hand you the list of undercover operatives?!" Bogo boomed, wanting to berate that blubbery cheetah at the front desk.  
"Because they were a baker's dozen, but that's not important Chief. If you just got off the horn with Benson, then that means you already know the bad news?"  
"That three agents are dead." The Chief's ears fell against the sides of his face. "Right?"  
"Unfortunately." Luis confirmed, exhaling again. "What Benson probably didn't tell you, is that they were shot down by ZID."

"We have no time for probables, Detective Strider." Bogo held his head with his free cloven hand, while nearly ramming the phone into his temple with the other paw. Damn it, too many men were dying today.  
"Sure we do." Luis replied quickly taking another drag from his cigarette. "But I'll repeat myself without the probable. Jeager, Nolan and Clawson were killed by ZID."

Chief Bogo had heard him the first time-but he wasn't sure he wanted to truly process the information.  
"Why...?" The Chief's voice grew weaker, unable to comprehend why his allies-were shooting at his own men. Even though they were undercover, they were supposed to identify themselves to other law enforcement immediately. Unless ZID was somehow crooked.  
"That I can't say for sure just yet." Luis exhaled, "But I can say that it didn't stop there... Something is seriously wrong with ZAIRD right now."  
"Why?" Bogo sat up again, probably for the twentieth time today. "What happened? Where are you right now?"

"On the south connecting bridge that shoots through the Climate Wall, you know... the hot/cold death trap bridge. The one that only the most desperate, or government funded, drive down."  
"Oh." Chief Bogo knew the road well, it was exactly where low lives, smugglers and bootleggers were during the late nights and early mornings. When the heat and chill was just enough to keep their vehicles from malfunctioning while crossing. "What do you see?"

"Well," Luis exhaled deeply, on his second cigarette of the conversation. "I'm actually standing on top of nine corpses right now."  
"Nine?!"  
"Yes, Nine. Three undercover, six ZID. The undercovers in question were hit with _7.62x51mm_ rounds. Tiny, painful, inaccurate and messy bullets that are belt fed normally. In short-Gatling gun ammunition. From a helicopter. Bullets from those barrels are all over the road actually."  
"..." Chief Bogo was silent.  
"The soldiers over here however, the ZID that is." Luis exhaled again then continued, "All brutalized with 9mm ammunition. I could go into the exacts, but basically what I'm saying is, our undercover officers weren't shot by the ZID soliders; they were shot by the ZID chopper. Then that same chopper's crew, were all shot by a single officer using 9mm rounds. I say that because everyone in the ZID carries 10mm and .45 caliber rounds. Also, our undercovers were using .45 ACP as well. Obviously for the increase in stopping power, while sacrificing carrying capacity."

"...I'm... not a solider anymore, Luis." Bogo spoke up. "You don't need to tell me the exact details like a debriefing."  
"I understand Chief." Luis puffed smoke audibly. "Long story short. There's some sort of internal struggle going on here. I can't say why the ZID would shoot at undercover, because... their exact jobs is information gathering, so they _had_ to know they were shooting at undercover agents. But I also can't say why everyone was shooting in the first place. Each soldier was hit in the head by two rounds, aside from the obvious pilot-that was hit with six."

"Why... six?" Bogo regrettably inquired.  
"Because he was the pilot. Chances are he was hit through the chassis of the helicopter and brought down, judging by the grouping on his chest and face at least. He was shot through the glass, and 9mm rounds have impressively low kick so the shooter had a control advantage that would make a moving target less a target and more of a toy." Luis exhaled audibly once more. "So what I've gathered from the scene so far is that a vehicle was traveling from Tundra Town to Savanna Square, and was intercepted by another vehicle. All the while, both vehicles were being tailed by the helicopter. Judging from the shelling I've identified, both vehicles were hit and flew off the road, which lead to the undercovers leaving their vehicle and being gunned down first. Their blood is much older than that of the ZID, even if only by a few minutes. Then something here happened, probably a fight-then someone in the ZID went nuts and started shooting. Either that, or there was a hidden ZAIRD soldier somewhere nearby, lucky enough to be right where all the action went down. The chopper was likely also in the area, and was disabled when it got too close to the rogue agent, which... would mean that it would have had to have landed at some point since there is no crash sight for a helicopter obviously." Luis then exhaled again.

Bogo was never quite sure how this red panda could gather so much in such a short time, or miraculously be in so many places at once, but he was damn good at his job and always managed to gather the facts before even firing a round at a potential threat. The Chief's resolve was still weak, but it got stronger with good officers like him, and Hopps on the force.

"So..." Bogo sighed not sure where else to go with Luis' investigative skills. "Have you located the smuggler?"  
Luis shook his head, but there was no way Bogo could have seen that. "Not exactly," Luis stated. "But I'm under the impression that Benson did. These _were_ his fellow agents after all. He wouldn't have activated a tracking probe without good reason. The thing is... why would ZID _also_ follow a probe?"  
"How did you-" Bogo stopped himself, he didn't want to pry any more into how or why Luis knew so much, he just did, and he was an asset to the ZPD, so it was fine.  
"I learn things, Chief." Luis exhaled smoke and flicked his cigarette off the highway as he approached the broken stone barriers. "But I'm going to be learning a lot more soon. The vehicles that were shot at were a commercial van, and some new... civilian grade something." He bent down to scratch at the tire tracks. "Brand new tires..." He sniffed his fingers, Chief Bogo could actually hear that. "Something of this year's make and model... These marks in the ice are from brand new wheels, which had to have gone on a brand new car... It's strange to see undercover agents driving brand new vehicles, Chief."

"They're not in my employ anymore, Strider." Bogo informed him, trying to not justify their deaths through stupidity. "I would have never advised they do something like that."  
"I understand," Luis rose and lit up another smoke, now looking over the edge of the bridge. "Their vehicles went over the side... I'll have to examine the river. And as much as I'd like to, I probably shouldn't get in touch with Benson. His psych report says that he's unshakably loyal and emotionally vulnerable. Losing his team would have him rattled, so contact is out of the question."  
"Something tells me you'll be watching him though." Bogo nearly cracked a smile.  
"Oh no question about that, Chief." Luis exhaled a puff of smoke. "Like I said, I'll keep you posted. I'll provide a full report of this by the end of the day."

"Luis!" Chief shouted into the phone, hoping the red panda wasn't about to hang up.  
"Yes, Chief?"  
"Ten." Bogo told him. "The smuggler's name is Ten. He's the owner of-"  
"Ice Carvers, on Glacier Street in Tundra Town." The red panda recited as if he had the information memorized already. "Didn't know that. Thanks-I'll give the place a bit of a once over and see what I can uncover."  
"We have an agent in there already, be triple cautious Detective." Bogo grumbled, trying to perish the thought of the Detective duty also coming to an unfortunate end.  
"I'll keep my nose clean Chief, and my ears open. Take care."

Luis clicked off his phone, leaving Bogo listening to the dial tone. Bad news begets even more bad news. What was this city coming to? The ox exhaled, and placed the handset on the ringer. Three under cover agents were dead, and six ZID officers were dead. The hospital and a first responder would need to head out to the scene before the weather got too hot or too hold for them to handle. Bogo reached for the phone again, right as it started to ring.

"Again?" Bogo sighed, and lifted the receiver to his ear. "Bogo speaking."  
"Chief Bogo!" LionHeart filled his ears. "I've got another question!"

.

* * *

.

Bunny Burrow, a sunny, lazy, wind swept, comfortable plot of land just nestled outside of Zootopia. The carrot farming, berry harvesting, baby booming mega habitat that helps provide Zootopia and the local burrows, hovels, habitats and homes with vegetables and fruits from nearly each kind of tree and bush. Bunny Burrow was the place where it was perfect to be a rabbit.

But could it handle a fox?

They would soon find out.

"This reminds me of that scene..." Nick laughed. He was looking left and right. His eyes wide, scanning the surrounding waters.  
"From that one movie?" Judy smiled back to him weakly. "It does... doesn't it?"  
"Yeah." Nick replied with his own weak smile, clutching the weapons crate in his waterlogged paws as the current pushed them closer and closer to land.

The rabbit and fox had managed to survive their fall from over three hundred feet, clearly by the graces of powers greater than themselves. As soon as they connected with the frozen river below, they were propelled through the water like a rocket. They fell into the under ice current that was used to move floating chunks of tundra around Tundra Town for animals on the go. Which propelled them out of Tundra Town waters and into the channel outside Zootopia in mere minutes. By that time the air had gotten thin enough for Judy to panic, Nick had sprung to life and kicked the case open, quickly assaulting the both of them with icy waters and scared fish. Together, they breached the surface with the weapons crate in hand and clasped it shut, providing them a floatation device large enough for a fox and a bunny.

Although the weight of both a fox and a bunny on the case was enough to make it sink-leaving Nick to relinquish the position of floater to Judy-while he merely waded beside her. It reminded them both of a scene they saw in an art film years ago about environmental disasters and a large sinking ship. The end scene depicted two survivors, holding onto a chunk of boat while waiting for rescue to arrive. Obviously the two of them had watched it at different times in their lives, but it was impossible to be an English speaking animal and _not_ have watched the film. Also their situation was completely different, this water wasn't freezing.

Judy was lying on her back, staring into the sky. She could feel the taut fibers of her suit warming, and her fur beginning to crisp and dry under the morning sun. Nick on the other hand was holding onto the crate with half his body out of the water and half in, being trailed by his tail that floated aimlessly behind him.

"Carrots?" The fox spoke, coaxing Judy's vision to float over to him as his paw met her cheek. "We're not lost, are we?" He asked, not actually certain where he was at the moment. Everything to him was actually a bit of blur, especially the last ten or so hours.  
"No." Judy nuzzled into his wet paw, taking comfort whenever they touched like this. "We're just outside of Zootopia, floating towards the Burrows. We'll probably hit dirt in ten-twenty minutes or so."  
"Oh that's good." Nick's widened eyes panned left and right. "Because I would hate to be lost at sea, you know like that one movie. Lost at Sea."  
"I thought you were going to say, ' _Stranded'_." Judy quipped back at him.  
"I wouldn't mind being stranded somewhere with you Miss Hopps." The fox smirked, with a wink.  
"Oh get real." The bunny grinned wide, curiously watching Nick's eyes darting around like he could hear something in the distance, slowly sneaking up on him. "Is... everything alright?"  
"Huh?" He blinked rapidly, "Yeah yeah, fine, everything's fine. It's just been some morning, hasn't it?"

"It has." The bunny also glanced around, wondering if _she_ should be hearing something as well. "Is there something near us, you keep searching like-" Nick cut her off quickly.  
"Oh no no, just taking in the scenery. You know... Hey, Carrots did I tell you how we managed to get outta the ZRD's headquarters?"

Judy blinked, she wanted to know the story-but she also had her nightmare fresh in her mind. Inwardly, she knew Nick would never make some kind of bargain with another woman just to save her, especially not Captain Alexandria. But in her mind, she was also hoping he _wouldn't_ have made a deal like that. So she inhaled sharply, and bravely asked-"Well, how _did_ you manage to escape the Rescue Division headquarters? It was supposed to be locked down tight, right?"

"It was!" Nick snorted, shooting water from one nostril while laughing. "Turns out they locked all the doors, but never checked the windows. I actually crawled through their _ventilation_ system." He finished with one of his signature grins. "Can you imagine?"  
"Their vents?" Judy's brow rose as she took her paws off his, and placed them on his cheeks. "How tough was it?"  
"Tough?" He laughed, "Nothing is tough, if I'm doing it for you Carrots." His grin quickly returned.  
"Come on, Nick. Be honest. What happened?" The bunny continued to pry, hoping to hear only good news.  
"We were under ground." Nick spat quickly with a grin. "Believe that? The infamous ZAIRD rests under the city!"

The waves threw Nick and Judy to one side as the rabbit adjusted to the news. "Underground?! Like... the sewers?" She could hardly believe it.  
"Sort of." Nick chuckled while shaking his head to clear the sea water from his ears, "Think they ever had anyone escape before?"  
"Probably not, Slick Nick." The rabbit praised with a warm smile gracing her tired face. "I don't think they knew what hit em."  
"Speaking of hit..." Nick glanced around as if he'd only taken in the scenery. "Why _are_ we in the ocean again? And what happened to Fennick? I thought I paid him to watch our backs."  
"Our?" Judy frowned into Nick's eyes, wanting him to tell the truth.  
"Yeah." Nick's ears fell back, indicating that he was trying to cover up a white lie, for her sake. "Our backs? What?" He gave a sheepish grin. "What?"  
"Nick." Judy didn't demand, she didn't beg, nor did she snarl, she merely repeated herself in a stern tone, and it was enough to get the fox to budge.  
"Fine fine, you got me Carrots. I paid _him_ to watch _you_ , but only until I got back."

"Got back?" Judy tilted her head to one side, "From where?"  
"From the land of not. I fainted-on the spot. I could feel it in my bones and skull, but I didn't want to, nor could I until I knew you were safe, and there was only one guy I trusted."

"Fennick." Judy lowered her head.  
"How come that little guy isn't here anyway?" Nick looked around again, trying to figure out where he even was. "I sort of expect to see him doggy paddling and giving me the middle finger."  
"ZAIRD got to Fennick, Nick." The rabbit expelled quickly, while shifting her gaze towards the sea.  
"They... got Fennick? Why?! What did he do?" Nick countered, not understanding why ZAIRD would have anything to do with a hustler like Fennick.  
"He... may have bought some illegal firearms from a string and we got tailed by them."  
"Tailed?" Nick's gaze sharpened, but his eyes were still quite wide. "So wait, he bought guns and ZAIRD followed? He got played?!"

"It's not that simple." Judy informed the fox, staring into his widened eyes. "We were also chased by some black car, and those are the guys that shot me while I was in the back of the van."  
"WHAT?!" The fox's voice nearly made the waves buckle. "Are you hurt? Are you alright?! Where were you hit?"  
"Surprisingly." Judy flopped her ear over one eye, like Gazelle. "Only in the ear, just the tip of it too. I got really lucky."  
"The ear?" Nick's wide eyes blinked at her injury, and he felt much better. Although shootings? That would explain the pain he felt in his back. "I'm so glad you're not too hurt though."  
"Me too." The bunny snorted sea water this time, "Augh! It's up my nose."  
"So wait, the van got shot at?!" Nick's brain clearly farted once. "Oh man, that's going to have Fennick in a fury! Wait-is the van okay?" Nick's tone was dangerously sincere with the question.

"It... fell from the bridge, with me and you and a lot of bullets." Judy explained, still holding Nick's cheeks in her paws. She kept her gaze locked on his wide eyed stare. There was something different about him, and she couldn't put her paw on it but she knew she would figure it out soon. Sitting up, Judy turned to glance off towards the land mass that they were being pushed towards-it was Bunny Burrow alright. She could tell from the rolling hills covered with lights. They were only a few minutes from being within easy swimming distance, but it would still take a moment to convince herself that swimming was safer, and smarter than holding onto a crate and floating there.

"Carrots." Nick spoke, catching Judy's attention. "Are we safe?"  
"Safe?" Judy spun to smile into his eyes. "I... can't say we're in danger-so we are sort of safe. Why?"  
"Just..." Nick's wide stare met Judy's concerned gaze. "I'm living the dream being an officer and all but... I'd like to actually have a day off, with you."  
"Nick." Judy smiled into his eyes, "We've only been working together for a week."  
"And we've only been living together for a week. Don't you think we should... get to learn more about each other?"

Judy was taken aback by Nick's forwardness when it came to their relationship. They were close, very close, but the truth was, they only really knew each others last names because that's a part of an introduction. But as far as courting is concerned, they hadn't even started. Judy had no idea what Nick's favorite color was, what kind of music he listened to, since they mostly worked and slept, and she hadn't gotten any grasp of his diet. He was smooth talker, and a wonderful guy, but she didn't know anything else, not even his birthday. To think that they sleep in the same bed every night.

"I..." Judy smiled at the thought however, "I'd love that. I want to know so much about you, Nick." She really did want to know his name. Know his birthday and his likes and dislikes. They've been playing it so safe that it's been more like a dream than a reality.  
The fox snickered, "Well we have time-why not ask. Ask me anything! Anything you'd like."  
"Okay." Judy grinned, holding his paws now and smiling into his wet face. "What's my best feature?"  
"Those big beautiful purple eyes." Nick answered swiftly.  
Judy visibly blushed as sea water sent sailing over her head. "Second best feature?" She giggled, not sure why she would ask something along these lines.  
"That large brain rolling around in that tiny head of yours." Nick fired off another answer.  
"I thought I was a dumb bunny." Judy's tongue came out of her mouth-getting a taste of that salt water present on her lips.

"I did say that, yes. But that was before I discovered your third best feature."  
"Oh yeah?" Judy took the bait. "What is that?"  
"That supple, round, pronounced bunny butt you have." The fox snapped his fangs, causing Judy's cotton tail to twitch with sudden excitement.  
"Nick!" She laughed, "Come on-be serious."

"I am." The vulpine admitted, "You're the one asking odd ball questions."  
"Well then..." Judy paused, thinking for once. "Ever think you'd be a police officer?"  
"Not in a million years. But I did want to be a junior ranger scout." The fox nodded, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone for a moment.

"Okay... Why did you pull away from me on the Sky Tram after you told me about the Junior Ranger scouts?"  
"Because it would have been in bad form to kiss you where everyone could see and get jealous." The fox smacked out another cheap answer with a cheeky grin on his muzzle.  
"Nick!" Judy's spirits were always high whenever they were together. And his jokes always made her feel better. "Jealous? How many vixens are after you in the rain forest district?"  
"None." He snapped with a smile. "I meant animals would get jealous of me, kissing such a cute bunny."  
"Oh you jerk." Judy flicked Nick's nose. He was powerless to stop her, less he begun swimming. "Don't call me cute."  
"I can, and I will." Nick grinned up at Judy as her finger slowly stroked down his face.  
"What makes you think you can call me cute?" Judy got in his face.  
"I can call you that because, Miss Hopps, you are. It's not an insult, it's a compliment-and I meant it, even the first time I said it."

The water rocked the two closer together as the coast grew closer and closer to them. It was now probably safe enough to swim, but Judy had another burning question in the back of her mind.

"Nick." The rabbit's gaze fell to their now clasped paws-where their fingers had laced together after being so close for so long. Her view shifted back up into his large green eyes, curiosity burning a hole in the back of her mind but Fennick's warning was still too freshly burned into the same area. She knew she couldn't ask. She was instructed exclusively not to, but that didn't stop her from wondering... Who exactly was Nikki?

Only another moment passed before Judy and Nick were suddenly slung into the damp grassy hill that lined the edge of Bunny Burrow. Her prediction had clearly been off by a few minutes. The tepid waters now greeted them instead of the chilled sea fairing temperatures of further out. The fox groaned at the tingling of his body starting to warm up finally. More like a burning sensation than a gentle tickle. Although Judy didn't mind the temperature at all anymore. Fighting through Tundra Town, only to be dipped in near freezing waters was enough to make her appreciate, and stave off the cold like she had trained for it. Because she sort of did. The academy was tough after all.

Her ears perked up to the shouts and laughter of nearby bunnies. They had only just crept in under radar, and if she knew her family, which she did, there would be no hiding herself or her best friend for much longer. Rabbit ears were great when it came to detecting predators, and Nick's groans of rejuvenative agony would only attract attention much sooner than later.

"Carrots!" Nick called out to Judy who was only slightly higher on the inclined hill than he was. Neither of them were touching water anymore-but only a slip or a slide would place them back into the drink. "We've hit land! Land! Can you believe it!? Land!"  
"Yep." Judy smiled warmly, sitting up and turning her vision down to Nick, who began patting around like he couldn't see anything. But he still managed to climb the hill with ease, and mount his figure over Judy's. This was comforting but also a bit awkward since she was forced to lay back against the hill with him hovering over her like he was zeroing in for a kiss. "What are you doing Nick?" She laughed, gently jabbing his chest-then noticing that his gaze fell straight to hers, with that same wide eyed expression.

Was he not aware where he was?

"Nick?" Judy questioned him, seizing his head in her paws, staring into his blinded gaze again. "What happened Nick? What's wrong?"  
"Oh Carrots." He laughed, blinking calmly, but his vision only returned to wide and scan-like after he re-opened his eyes. His vision, was impaired.

"Nick!" Judy chirped up to him as bunnies began to bound over the hill, shouting for the two of them in excitement and discovery. Their time together had officially ended.  
"Carrots." Nick offered a smile. "Guess it's a good a time as any to tell you, I'm uh... Blind."  
"What?!" Judy could hardly squeak out as she was pulled to her feet by one of her older brothers.

"JUDY!" A crowd of excited bunnies roared like she was a super star, because she rightfully was. The bunny was lifted away from the ground and crowd surfed slowly over the hill by no less than one hundred bunny hands.  
"Carrots?!" Nick called out, looking left and right-exposing his blindness with his inability to follow her through the crowd. He was also surfing on bunny paws only feet from Judy, but his ears were being hit with too many voices, too many questions, too many excited squeals. While his eyes, completely useless.

"Oh Nick..." Judy frowned while being carted off, "What happened to you?"

. . . .

* * *

. . . .

The Hopps Family Farm. They had finally arrived. Nick and Judy had survived through a strange outbreak of _primal_ at the PMPI headquarters. Muscled through strange interrogation at the ZRD's underground facility. Narrowly dodged bullet sandwiches from ZAIRD after an arms deal. And managed to float over sixteen nautical miles around Zootopia to wash up on the grassy hill of the farm. It had been an eventful and dangerous morning and things were finally starting to slow down... seemingly.

"Gyaaah!" Nick shouted from the other room, the large wide open room that housed the multitude of single beds for all the bunnies. The only bunnies that had their own rooms were the eldest thirty, any bunny that had a child and, of course, the parents. The main bedroom had been partially converted into a hospital by erecting curtains in a hexagon around the fox patient, propping up a bed for the injured vulpine and dressing every bunny within ten feet in white robes, rubber gloves and face masks. They were taking this hospital thing seriously.

Nick had no clue how to deal with such attention a first, since this was the first time since he had joined the ZPD that he'd gotten so much unnecessary attention. But as bunnies started rubbing him down with cotton swabs, taking his temperature and asking him where things hurt. Only then did he realize that this wasn't some weird experiment. These bunnies were serious.

"Aaaahhh!" He was forced to groan as a bunny effortless pulled a bullet from his back, while he was injected by another overzealous doctor. He hadn't even realized a bullet was there. It had jabbed him through his jumpsuit and lodged into his soft tissue sometime during the last few hours. It was more like a dent in his flesh than an actual penetrating wound. So he'd been shot, just as Judy had. But it didn't actually pass through or into him. Good news. "Gyaaaaa!" Another foreign object was torn from him before the drugs had time to kick in. "W-what are you doing to me!? It burns! Aaaah!"

"What are they DOING to him?!" Judy was shouting while sitting in the kitchen that rotated by its own accord. The entire room spun around her while she sat in a kitchen chair-her purple orbs locked on the stack of curtains that harbored her partner, under the medical care of her sisters that were more like divas than doctors. "Dad?!" Judy turned to her father, Stu Hopps, who was sitting in front of her like she was an actual television.

Stu sat up, snapping back to reality. "Oh uh, sorry Jude the Dude. I was just admiring that souvenir you got up there." The father Hopps directed his chubby fingers to point up to Judy's shot ear.

Even Judy had forgotten she had had it at this point. Her ear fell into her paws, giving her the real chance to look at it instead of just remember it. It wasn't really a big injury, more like she was bitten by a large bug than with a bullet from some random gang member.

"Oh, this?" Judy's eyes shifted slowly to her father. "How come you're so calm about this? I thought the city scared you to death? Seeing me covered in cuts, bruises and bullet wounds isn't even making you... flinch?"  
"Nope!" Stu exclaimed with a grin, keeping Judy's expression confused and doubtful. "After reading about everything you did for that city, and your friend over there. I realize now that keeping you on the farm was far more dangerous than what the city could have thrown at you."

"More dangero-" Judy attempted to ask, but was cut off by her father and Nick.  
"Aaaaah! C-careful!" It was mostly Nick. But her father had advice to share too.

"Nope. Not scared for a moment. Just as it was when your mother and I decided to work with Gideon Grey, we also decided that the city was the perfect place for a bunny. Your sisters over there giving your friend a once over, went to Zootopia to volunteer as health care professionals to help with the savage recovery."  
"The recovery?" Judy sat up, returning her ears to their upright position. "Really? By themselves?"  
"Yep." The father nodded with a bright smile. "They want to be nurses, doctors and anesthesiologists when they go back... for some reason. But carrot farming isn't for everyone anymore. So I support em one hundred percent."  
"So you're singing a different tune now?" Judy's arms folded over her chest. "Because that's nearly all I heard from you when I was growing up. Carrot Farming. Settle with what ya got. Foxes are scary, keep your distance."  
"Yeah." Stu smiled, exposing a warm glow to his bravest daughter. "And I couldn't be more proud of you. I'm so sorry I wanted you to be safe, and isolated from the world when all I really wanted was for you to be happy, and for you to be you. Working in a big city. Working as a police officer. Best friends with a fox? I couldn't have dreamed it."

It was Judy's turn to smile with a healthy glow now. "Aw Dad." She rose, "I've always been happy. _Because_ you let me be myself. You told me to think small and think safe, but you never stopped me from dreaming big, or being bold. I can't tell you how many fist fights I got in when I was growing up."

"Fist fights?!" Stu was taken aback by that statement. His daughter was the bravest, and boldest, but also the brawlingest?! She was supposed to be a girl, not a boy in girls fur. "You were? Really?! Judy that's so dangerous! So reckless! So . . . Did you win?"

"Most of them." She announced triumphantly, only for her proud stance to be broken up the grunt of disapproval from Nick only a few, rotating feet away from her.

"Was... that mine?" The fox giggled, "That came out of me? Wow..." Nick's tone was decidedly less alert than it had been only moments before. Apparently the drugs kicked in.  
"Is he..?" Judy pointed at Nick's curtain. "Did they actually give him anesthetics?!"  
"Um... Probably." Stu scratched the top of his head, completely oblivious to anything his sea of children did during the day.

"Probably!?" Judy pushed past her father, having no worldly idea why she allowed Nick out of her sight in the first place, and with her siblings of all animals.

If this were like normal homes, Judy would be able to march right up to her sisters and demand her time back with Nick. If this were like normal homes, Judy would have only had to step past or through perhaps two or three bodies before she could reach her goal. If this were like normal homes, Judy wouldn't need to double-reference names in her memory before shouting for a bunny to step to one side, but this wasn't a normal home. This was the Hopps Family Farm and her family's house. So she had well over sixty rabbits to wade through on her way to her partner's medical emergency.

"Buddy! One side, one side!" Judy slid between two of her brothers. "Excuse me Alice. Oh-sorry Tommy. Gah-Larry, don't do that! Eeeewww, Benny, your butt needs changed. CHRISTINA! CHANGE BENNY!"  
"Alright!" Christina called back from across the sea of bunnies. What the hell she was doing so far from her infant was beyond Judy's level of giving a damn, but she handed off the giggling toddler to her sister Marcie, and kept pushing through her brothers, sisters and cousins with a mission on her mind. Finally after sixty full seconds of squeezing, pushing and twisting, she emerged into the open ring of vacant space that surrounded the tent that was erected around Nick. This was also the furthest the rabbits could be without needing to wear medical equipment, so it made her job of getting to ground zero that much easier. Her ears, in addition to the constant chatter of rabbits, filtered through to find Nick's mild, completely anesthetized, laughter.

"Your ears... aren't as big as I remember, Judy." The loopy fox commented.  
"I'm not Judy. I'm Tammy." Tammy told him quickly, in a professional tone. Much to Judy's surprise. Tammy was sassy when they were growing up, now all of a sudden she was stern? It's only been a week!  
"Tammy!" Judy shouted, hoping her sisters weren't butchering her fox.  
"Angie, go get Judy." Tammy informed her sister, Angie.  
"Suzie, go get Judy." Angie passed the work off to Suzie.  
"Wendy, go get Judy." Suzie spun to redirect the task to Wendy. All of them had some level of work they were doing that required them to be close by. Wendy on the other hand was just the gopher, getting things. She was expendable.

After a moment, a bunny with blue eyes, and a face mask came through the curtain, walking straight up to her older sister with a warm smile gracing her eyes.  
"Here Judy." Wendy held up a smock, rubber gloves and a face mask. "We got all the bullets out of him."

"Bullets?!" Judy already had the face mask on. "What do you mean bullets?! We... I... thought we... I..."  
"Nothing to be worried about." Wendy yawned into her mask, looking sleepy, she always looked sleepy. "Come on, he's been injected with pain killers already, so he's going to be loopy but he'll heal up fine."  
"Oh god, what have you girls done to him?!" Judy's mind only threw doubt and fear at her, not certain what to expect behind the curtain. But as her half scrubs were thrown on, she nearly ran forward to punch through the curtain. "Nick!" She called out, as she cut through to see his condition.

Instantly, eight bunnies turned to Judy appeared. They waved gingerly with crimson gloves, indicating that they were indeed working on the fox in question, and taking it seriously. Stitching closed a gash before snipping the wire and setting down their tools.  
"G-girls!?" Judy was shocked, seeing their bloody gloves. But Nick didn't look butchered or mangled. As a matter of fact, he was smiling like a drunk with only a few more bandages across his body than he did when he was patched up by Fennick. Perhaps her sisters actually were good medical professionals.

"Is he... okay?" Judy questioned her siblings, receiving nods of approval as they begun to exit. Removing bloody gloves. Tossing ear nets and face masks and dropping their aprons in a basket on their way out. Only one of her sisters remained, Julie, who was only a year younger than her.

"Julie." Judy stepped up to her little sister.  
"Judy." Julie maintained her stoic expression, trying not to hug the life out of her big sister. "Mr. Wilde here had six bullets in his body, two teeth from hyenas, one tooth from a honey badger, a rock-from Outback Island. He's got a long claw pattern going up his back starting at his butt and stopping at his shoulder blades, and there was a thorn in his foot. We got that out."

"...w-what?" Judy repeated what she'd just heard in her own head. He had an injury? Injuries?! That many?! Well the multitude was no surprise, but claw marks? Claws? Going up his back? Where could he have gotten those? They must have been old, because she had seen Nick shirtless from all angles and never noticed claw marks before.

"Don't dwell on it too hard. He's a predator, he's probably been in more fights than you were in, big sis." Julie informed her with a grin, visible behind her face mask.

Judy's eyes rested on her sister as she stepped out of the tent, leaving the two of them _alone_ finally. Or as alone as they could get in a room of over two hundred bunnies. But being separated by a thin curtain was enough to satisfy her for the moment.

Nick's eyes rolled over to Judy, smiling brightly as she approached.  
"Nick?" She called out to him, stepping up and leaning forward to touch his face where they had laid multiple bandages across his cheeks, nose, and lower jaw. The doctors had even dressed his head with a large wrap, now indicating his apparent concussion. They could diagnose even that?!  
"Is that you Judy?" He asked, still sounding hindered. But a lot less drunk in her presence. "Where is my tail? I... I can't feel it?" Well, maybe still drunk in her presence.  
"Nick." Judy exhaled, thanking her stars that he wasn't talking crazy... or at least not too crazy. "It's right behind you where it belongs. My sisters really are going to be doctors and nurses. I'm surprised they didn't hit me in the ear." Judy's warmth grew, watching Nick's lazy expression remain on his face. He looked more like a sloth now, or at least he did in the face. His grin was still present on his medicated cheeks and bandaged muzzle. While he wasn't actually in any serious medical danger, she couldn't deny that seeing her family, taking care of a fox was a warm feeling that she wouldn't have wanted to miss for the world.

"Get some rest Nick." The bunny dismissed him with a kiss to the side of his muzzle. Stepping back from him to return to her sisters to inform them of how proud she was.

"Judy..." Nick whispered, closing his eyes slowly, her wish clearly being his command. He appeared as if he were going to say something to her, but his wide green eyes flickered like that of a dying flame before finally closing. He lowered his paws and exhaled deep, falling into a drug assisted sleep.

Judy could have remained where she was for hours. Just watching the fox sleep painlessly made her feel much better about how their day has gone. It was still early, but it had been shit so far. So things were now looking up. She shifted her gaze to the slop box that was full of the foreign objects that were removed from his body. Where these things were hiding, how long they'd been there or where he got them was beyond her-but he didn't appear to be in any pain. Probably due to the drugs. And he wasn't leaking blood all over the floor or the beds, so he was actually safe here. Both safe and comfortable. It's what Judy always wanted for herself and Nick, causing her to wonder if living _away_ from Zootopia would be more preferable than living in the city.

But being an officer was her dream. Working for the ZPD is how she met Nick in the first place, and by any other circumstances it probably wouldn't have been as special or magical. Magical. It probably wasn't the best way to describe the way their first encounter had actually gone, but it was acceptable.

For the most part at least.

"Judy!" Bunnies suddenly began shouting for her near their front door, causing the sea of rabbits to shift their attention towards the entrance where a loud roar was drowning out everyone's conversation. A roar that Judy had become all too familiar with in the past ten hours. Her slight nirvana had been effectively shattered.

Her heart pumped with double shots of adrenaline and fear while her ears trembled to the exact blade rotations of a helicopter landing somewhere outside. That same tone she had heard when she was with Fennick before the shooting, before the fall, before the explosion.

"This can't be happening." Judy cut a path through her family as she made for the door. Getting _to_ the door was much easier than it was getting to Nick, but probably due to the fear that was slowly spreading through the collective of the home. Or due to the no-nonsense adrenaline that was giving the fear in her body a proper ass whoopin. None of these bunnies had ever witnessed a military grade helicopter before, and with the knowledge of what these organizations are capable of, Judy wasn't prepared for that level of violence to befall her farm or her family.

Without any ounce of hesitation, Judy charged out of her front door, and made eye contact with the helicopter and the black clad soldier slowly stomping towards her home. They had already landed and exited in that short of time? Were they that serious on nabbing them?!

It didn't matter to the bunny cop. They had landed. ZAIRD was here.

"NO!" Judy screamed, and rushed the solider in a blaze. They were twice as tall as her, wearing armor that probably could resist all manner of gun fire, and were prepared to kill for nearly any reason but it didn't matter to Judy. She had graduated at the top of her class and she was defending her home, her family, and her fox... ZAIRD wasn't going to have him. Not without a proper fight at least.

"GET AWAY!" Judy screamed and dove through the air, launching a kick aimed at the helmet of the ZAIRD soldier marching towards her. To her horror, and miscalculation however, her foot was seized right out of the air and she was snagged in a powerful grip by the armored soldier.

"JUDY!" Stu shouted from the door of their home. "Hold still honey!" The father bunny called, causing both Judy and the ZAIRD soldier to snap their attention in the direction of the large bunny man rushing forward with a pump action shot gun in his paws. ' _Is that my father?!'_ Judy thought for a split second, having never witnessed this side of her parent before.

"Wonderful..." The mechanical and filtered voice echoed through Judy's ears, then... BLAM!

Judy hit the dirt, being dropped from the soldier's grip as they were bucked backwards by the shotgun blast hitting them squarely and forcefully.

"GET-" **BLAM!**  
"OFF-" **BLAM!**  
"MY-" **BLAM!**  
"PROPERTY!"

Stu boomed with each cock and blast of the shotgun, punching back the ZAIRD soldier. He was accurate too, hitting the soldier in the knee, then shoulder, then neck and finally a cluster of buck shot went sailing for the helmet. Stu wasn't a violent man, but he was a wise worldly man and knew where to hit something to make it flinch. But within the moment of Stu pulling the trigger for the fourth time, there was a loud bang, and the weapon flew out of his hand and into the air, spraying the pellets harmlessly into the air.

Stu fell backwards on his butt, his shooting hand aching from the impact. Judy scrambled to her feet and charged in front of her father, throwing her arms up and out to each side, baring her chest and making herself as large a target as possible. She was gasping for breath while the ZAIRD soldier glared down her and her father, clutching a large handgun in their black armored paw. Their armor was clearly mussed from the shotgun blasts in the chest, knee and shoulder-but the soldier didn't advance. Merely glare, still holding their weapon with precision and form.

Only a single bullet had left the chamber of the soldiers handgun during the battle, somehow striking Stu's shotgun instead of any of the forty-five bunnies watching through the windows, the man with the weapon or his daughter who was, at the time, crouching only inches away from the blasts. But now, all the targets were in sight and so dangerously easy to hit. But that wasn't why the soldier was here. It wasn't for blood or for war.

"Well?!" Judy growled at the soldier. "Are you going to slaughter a whole family full of innocent bunnies, just for a bunny and a fox?! Is that what you want?! Are you a monster?!" She howled, having no other recourse, since she was being glared down by a gun barrel. Nothing she could do would matter, so all she could do was shout.

The soldier remained stationary, but shifted to slowly holster their pistol. Judy remained steadfast, with her arms out stretched, even when her father rose to his feet and began backing into the house. She had never even seen an aggressive side to her father ever since she'd been born, but seeing him defend her in such a manner made her triple certain that nothing in this world was what it seemed. ZAIRD, at first, appeared to be the greatest of good. Judy knew they couldn't be trusted. Her father, a once dormant man, wielded a shotgun like a well trained solider in order to defend her. Even her best friend was a shiftless no-good conman when they first met, and she would be willing to give him her heart if the moment was right. This was the world she was aware of now, and it was the world she had dedicated herself to defending. Even against her own kind, law enforcement, like ZAIRD.

The solider before her held their position for an unnecessarily long amount of time, as each bunny was forced back into the home and the door was closed, only leaving Stu and Judy outside to stare down the black armored soldier. It of course meant that bunnies were now crowding through the windows, but Stu was powerless to stop that.

"Well?" Judy growled again. "What have you to say for yourself? Why are you here? What do you want?! Why can't you just leave us alone?!" The bunny continued to berate the soldier.  
"Because..." The soldier finally spoke, lifting their paws to unclip their muzzle filter, helmet and goggles slowly peeling away their helmet to reveal the face beneath the mask. Exposing their black, red tipped hair to fresh country air and the breeze.

"I made a promise to your commander that I would find you." The vixen spoke freely, dropping her helmet straight into the dirt. "And I'm here to fix the fox." Her pink eyes scanned the bunnies before her, but finally locking on to Judy.  
"Uh..." Stu stepped forward as Judy's arms slowly dropped. "This another friend of yours, Jude the Dude?" The dad swallowed hard, not sure whether to be nervous or somehow relieved and apologetic.  
"Um..." Judy swallowed too, as the ZRD Captain stepped up to her and her father. The vixen seized and held the shotgun backwards with the trigger jammed under her finger so it was impossible to even fire it, while returning it to Mr. Hopps.

"This is... Captain... Alexandria..." Judy slowly read off, slightly remembering her name. But trying to get over her nightmare coming to life. "She's the..." Alexandria then cut in.  
"Captain Alexandria of the Zootopia Rescue Division." The vixen corrected, clearing her throat and extending her hand out to Stu and Judy as Stu retrieved the shotgun. "I'm here to provide healing."

Stu took Alexandria's hand and hastily began shaking it. "Well that's just great! Sorry about the... you know."  
"Think nothing of it, sir. You were defending your home. I would have done the same." The vixen gave a bright, fanged smile. Showing off her perfect predator teeth. Then slowly turned her head to Judy, who's ears had fallen back from caution."Miss Judy Hopps?" The vixen questioned her.

"Y-yes?" Judy swallowed for a fifth time, the nightmare creeping closer and closer to her psyche.

Alexandria released her father's hand, and turned her open armored paw to Judy."Where is Nicholas Wilde?"


End file.
